About

Our Story

In 1949, citizens from our area worked together to create a volunteer agency named Harrisonburg Rescue Squad. The following year they incorporated via documents that still bear their names. Included was an outline of the major purposes for the squad’s existence from which the above quote is taken.

Over 70 years later, this remains the focus of our agency and our members. This singularity of purpose motives us. As our members accept tasks and responsibilities, they do so as part of a team effort that seeks a single outcome: to save lives and give aid and assistance to those in need.

service volunteers harrisonburg virginia

Our industry is evolving. The lines between pre-hospital care, primary care and social services are narrowing. For example, paramedics in some communities make home visits to decrease the use of 911 resources for non-emergent needs. Over the next decade, the delivery of EMS services will change significantly. However, our purpose and our focus will remain the same.

Another factor that has remained is our attachment to our community.  We are your rescue squad. The Harrisonburg – Rockingham community has supported our agency for over 70 years and today, as always, we strive to do our best to serve this community.  We truly appreciate the support we have received over the years and respect the amount of trust placed in us to provide care to those who are in their time of greatest need. We are proud of our community and hope to always be an agency which you can be proud of as well.

our community harrisonburg rescue squad

Our Relationship with the Community

The HRS Community Relations Committee is responsible for facilitating and overseeing our agency’s interactions with the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community. The goal of Community Relations is to build relationships with our neighbors, educate the public about health and safety, facilitate understanding about what our all-volunteer rescue squad is, and to build trust between children and public safety personnel. Community Relations volunteers attend and host a number of events each year intended to accomplish these goals, including:

  • “Ambulance Show & Tells” for elementary schools

  • Community and school health fairs

  • Annual Open Houses at HRS open to all community members

  • Open Houses & “Show & Tells” for local children’s organizations

  • Touch-A-Truck events

  • Central Shenandoah Safe Kids events

HRS is honored to serve the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community and our positive relationships with residents, schools, local organizations and local businesses are incredibly important to us. If you’re interested in involving HRS in a community event, feel free to email us at community@harrisonburgrescue.org; we’d be happy to discuss how we can help.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Members must donate 24-36 hours per month depending on their membership. Details on each membership type’s requirements can be found on the Membership page.

  • A:Absolutely!  HRS does not require current EMT certification in order to apply.  HRS only requires current CPR and AED certification with adult, child, and infant components.  There is also Driving and Administrative membership for those who want to volunteer but do not wish to provide direct patient care.

  • A:No previous experience or training is necessary.  Only an active CPR and AED certification with adult, child, and infant components is required of all of our members, with training provided or made available to members.

  • A: Driving membership and Administrative membership are available for individuals who are not interested in providing direct patient care.

  • A: HRS has types of tuition reimbursement or assistance available for members on a case-by-case basis.  HRS also offers the use of HRS owned training vehicles so that members can commute to and from classes without use of their personal vehicles.

  • A: HRS attempts to have courses for members as often as possible.  Courses held at the agency are first announced to current members before being opened to the public.  EMT course announcements elsewhere in the area may be announced on the Central Shenandoah EMS Council’s website.  All EMS courses are also registered on the Virginia Office of EMS’s website as well.

  • A: Yes. HRS offers Emergency Vehicle Operator Certification (EVOC) courses in-house and free-of-charge to members.

  • A: Membership duties are required for each month of the year, including summer and winter months when high schools and universities are on break.  Many members group their shifts together and run their monthly duties in the span of a week or less though to meet their monthly requirement.

  • A: HRS operates by a self-scheduling system for 6 and 12 hour shifts at a time.  Scheduling for most members is done for either 6 shifts or 36 hours per month (whichever comes first).  Members mix and match shifts to meet the 6 shifts or 36 hour commitment per their membership category.

  • A: HRS is a 100% volunteer-run EMS organization; no member receives stipends and no member is paid.