The Sterling Park Rescue Squad, Inc. (also known as the Sterling Volunteer
Rescue Squad) was founded in 1964 to provide EMS and rescue services for
the eastern portion of Loudoun County, Virginia. Since that time,
the Sterling area has developed into a rapidly growing suburban community.
Working in conjunction with the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department (which
is a separate organization), Sterling Rescue continues to provide emergency
services to the Sterling communities using only volunteer personnel.
Located approximately 30 miles west of Washington, DC, Sterling Rescue serves an area of approximately 25 square miles in eastern Loudoun County. We also provide mutual aid support for the Ashburn and Arcola Volunteer Fire Departments, as well as for Fairfax County and Dulles Airport. Sterling is primarily residential, but does include some light commercial and industrial development (especially near Dulles Airport). Sterling Rescue continues to have an increasing call volume due to the continued population growth in the Sterling area, and in 1996, Sterling Rescue answered approximately 4500 calls.
Sterling Rescue is one of 17 independent Fire and/or EMS agencies serving the residents of Loudoun County. Each of these volunteer agencies operates in conjunction with the Loudoun County Fire-Rescue department to provide all of the Fire and EMS services for the county. Loudoun County Fire-Rescue provides dispatch and training facilities that serve all of the volunteer agencies, and also provides daytime career staffing for selected stations. Sterling Rescue continues to answer every call using only volunteer staffing.
EMS care in Loudoun County
is provided at three certification levels, under the guidance of medical
control 
from
the Loudoun Hospital Center. EMS units are designated as Ambulance,
Rescue or Medic, depending on the personnel on board. Ambulances
are BLS (Basic Life Support) units staffed by EMT's (either EMT-A or EMT-B;
the lead technician is also required to be certified in defibrillation
and EOA's). Rescues are ALS (Advanced Life Support) unites staffed
by at least one EMT-ST (Shock-Trauma; an intermediate certification that
includes intubation, IV's and certain non-cardiac medications). Medics
are ALS units staffed by at least one EMT-C (Cardiac) or EMT-P (Paramedic;
Loudoun County ALS protocols do not differentiate between Cardiac technicians
and Paramedics). Dispatch protocols are utilized to dispatch the
most appropriate level unit based upon the nature of the call. Sterling
Rescue operates six ambulances, of which five are fully equipped to run
at any of these levels, depending only on staffing. The sixth unit
can operate as an Ambulance or a Rescue unit.
In addition to providing emergency medical transport services, Sterling Rescue also provides a variety of extrication and technical rescue services. To support these operations, we utilize our heavy Squad truck, as well as two boats and several chase vehicles. Sterling Rescue operates from two stations, which are shared with the Sterling Fire Department. Station 15 (also designated Fire station 11) is located on Commerce St. in the Sterling Park community, while Station 25 (Fire station 18) is located on Middlefield Dr. in the Cascades community (this station was recently opened to replace the original station on Sugarland Run Dr. in the Sugarland community, less than one mile away).
The operational members of Sterling Rescue are required to serve on duty crews and staff the station, in uniform, during their scheduled duty hours. There are two types of duty crews, day crew and night crew. The night crews provide staffing from 18:00 through 06:00 on weeknights and 24 hours on weekends. There are seven night crews, each of which is assigned a twelve hour time period (six crews cover Sunday through Friday nights and one crew covers Sunday days from 06:00-18:00). The 24 hour period from 06:00 Saturday through 06:00 Sunday is covered on a rotating basis by each of the seven night crews. Day crew provides coverage for the daytime on weekdays. Day crew coverage is provided on a sign-up basis, with each day crew member signing up for 15 hours each week. In addition, all operational members have minimum monthly training requirements and are expected to attend the monthly meeting.
With the continued growth in the Sterling communities, Sterling Rescue continues to need additional volunteers to assist in meeting the staffing demands. If you would be interested in becoming a member of Sterling Rescue, call Station 15 at (703) 430-1780 or stop by one of the stations.
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