Bill Text: VA SJR192 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-07 - Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ192ER) [SJR192 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SJR192-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, for more than 70 years, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad has provided emergency medical services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to residents of Henrico County and Richmond; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad was established on December 7, 1953, and originally operated out of the garage at Epiphany Lutheran Church near the intersection of Horsepen Road and Monument Avenue; and
WHEREAS, in its first year of operation, the 42 members of the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to more than 300 calls for service with only one ambulance; and
WHEREAS, to better serve the community, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad moved further down Horsepen Road and operated out of two trailers, one for dispatch and one for crews, until work on a new station was completed in 1956; and
WHEREAS, as the community continued to grow, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad added more vehicles to its fleet and began receiving regular calls for specialized rescue operations like water rescues, aircraft emergencies, construction site accidents, and other situations where specialized equipment was required; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad adapted to meet these and other needs, ensuring its crews had the best tools and training to respond to any emergency situation; the squad began offering an emergency medical technician training course in 1972 and helped Richmond and Henrico County become some of the first localities in the Commonwealth to adopt the emergency 911 system in 1977; and
WHEREAS, in the 1980s, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad began admitting women as emergency medical technicians and adopted new technology like its first computer-aided dispatch system; the squad also received a donated plot of land on which it constructed its second station on Pump Road in Short Pump; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, the 120 highly trained and certified volunteer members of the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad answered more than 4,000 calls for service; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad has always been staffed entirely by volunteers; this includes staffing on all holidays, through major storms and weather events, and during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad regularly provides extra units as requested by Henrico County for special standby duties, such as line-of-duty death services or coverage of stations, sporting events, and other large functions; and
WHEREAS, countless members of the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad have gone on to pursue careers in the healthcare profession, including as doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurses; members have worked for state and federal entities and have been appointed to state and federal committees, all in the quest to guarantee quality medical services; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad has never billed a patient or their insurance company and still continues to provide all services free of charge, with operations funded by donations from local residents and community partners; the squad also sponsors a four-month emergency medical technician course for its members; and
WHEREAS, the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad works closely with local fire departments to provide efficient and effective service and recently entered into an agreement enabling the Henrico County Fire Department to use the squad's Pump Road station and one of its ambulances for their medical transport truck on a daily basis; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad on the occasion of its 70th anniversary; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for the squad's legacy of service to the residents of Henrico County.
