Coming to the rescue for 51 years: South Orange Rescue Squad is ready and on call

The South Orange Rescue Squad is inviting the public to help celebrate 50 years of emergency medical and rescue service to communities and neighborhoods throughout Orange County. Everyone’s welcome to this family-friendly and dog-friendly event where they may explore emergency vehicles and equipment, including ambulances, boats and trucks – super fun for kids and adults, alike. Squad members will show how they use their gear and be on hand to answer questions about what first responders do. There will be CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) demonstrations and free blood pressure checks.

It’s all happening on Saturday, June 25, between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the SORS’ EMS station on 202 Roberson St. in Carrboro.

The squad actually began service in 1971 but the COVID pandemic delayed plans for this milestone anniversary. The event will also serve as a reunion for former members, many now scattered across the country.

South Orange Rescue Squad is currently comprised of 120 volunteers who respond to medical emergencies, providing ambulance and EMT crews every day. The organization is incorporated into Orange County’s Emergency Communications (9-1-1) Center. It deploys its technical and rescue squad to other areas of North Carolina as needed.

“We are an all-volunteer operation,” says Fred Stipe, Chairman of the Board. “From the Chief all the way down to the youngest cadet and the board, no one gets paid a nickel. All of our work is done out of altruism and community service. That makes us pretty unique in the emergency services world.” Stipe, a veteran administrator, has served on the SORS board for 25 years.

Chief Matthew Mauzy joined the squad as a University of North Carolina undergraduate student and has also spent two-and-a-half decades carrying out the SORS mission.

Mauzy’s paid employment is with the University of North Carolina’s emergency operations center as the Emergency Response Technology Manager.

Three divisions of service operate within the South Orange Rescue Squad. The Emergency Medical Service Division staffs a basic life support (BLS) ambulance that runs in the regular 9-1-1 system. This division also provides standby EMS coverage at all UNC Chapel Hill football and men’s basketball games as well as special events sports and community festivals. The division can work beyond the county if called upon, participating in mutual aid agreements.

The Technical Rescue Team responds to emergency calls that require specialized equipment and technical skill. With advanced training in swift water rescue, land search and rescue and high angle rescue, this division has deployed extensively throughout North Carolina during hurricane and flooding events. “Rope rescue is a common thread,” says Mauzy. “We encounter this in urban environments for repelling off a building or a multi-story construction sites and tower or crane rescues – our team goes up to evacuate.” The Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Program offers free CPR and AED classes to individuals and groups within Orange County. Classes for various levels of life-saving skills and certificates are available.

South Orange Rescue Squad works in cooperative alliance with Orange County Emergency Services. Telecommunicators there receive and coordinate 9-1-1 calls and dispatch to the closest, available units. Help can arrive from OCES, SORS, or another municipal service in the form of an ambulance or from the fire department, which often serves as the first responder.

Providing opportunity and launching careers

One of the key missions of the South Orange Rescue Mission is to provide opportunities to pursue careers in emergency services and other healthcare and medical fields. “We’ve acted as somewhat of a farm club or development league,” says Stipe, applying a baseball analogy. “Our rescue technicians work with us and gain experience with patient contact and basic levels of emergency medicine, then go on to medical, nursing or physicians-assistant school, public health or grow in careers in emergency management. Some of them remain EMTs indefinitely.”

Numerous individuals demonstrate Stipe’s point. One of the founding volunteers of SORS in the early 1970s, Dr. Jane Brice, is now the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine with the UNC School of Medicine. She also serves as the medical director for OCES. Another is Kent McKenzie, who is director of communications for the 9-1-1 emergency communications center at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Libertyville, Illinois. Dr. Tom Griggs, and wife, Pat, were among the first volunteers in 1972. Tom went on to become the medical director for the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Another SORS alumnus, Dr. Jeff Williams is currently the deputy medical director for Wake County EMS while Jim Albright is the director of emergency services for Guilford County.

“One of the big reasons I am still a part of SORS is the leadership opportunities I’ve had with it,” says Mauzy. “I want to stay to help others gain that opportunity and experience.”

Elizabeth Shipman, a current board member with South Orange Rescue Squad, has spent the past five years as a paramedic with Guilford County. Soon, she begins studies towards a physician assistant degree at Duke University. She first became affiliated with SORS in 2010 after taking EMT classes over the summer between her junior and senior years in high school. “At first, it just seemed like a fun thing to do,” says Shipman. “Once I started, I realized it was something I really cared about and it changed my trajectory in school. During the seven years she worked with SORS, she encountered a wide variety of medical emergencies, grew into leadership roles with both EMS and TRT and graduated from UNC with a degree in biology and teaching. “While working with SORS, I had the benefit of learning from thousands of patients who entrusted me with their care.”

Ongoing recruitment

Anyone from the community at large who wants to enter emergency medical services may apply but must have CPR and EMT certification or be enrolled in a program for that purpose. A primary source in this area for training is Durham Technical Community College. The majority of new members come as undergraduate students.

“We get a lot of our new members from UNC-Chapel Hill,” says Stipe. “They may already have an interest in a medical career and join with us as an opportunity to learn.” Some curriculums require a certain number of hours working in emergency response or ride-alongs.

In an effort to help educate and attract new members, South Orange Rescue Squad donated one of its out-of-service ambulances to the Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools’ Career and Technical Education Program for the Chapel Hill Senior High School’s Fire Fighting and EMS academy. “We wanted them to have a working environment relevant to what they would face in the field as EMTs,” says Stipe.

“On the rescue side, we try to go to places where people are already doing things similar to what we do – kayaking, mountain climbing – to find people who already have interest in these activities,” says Mauzy.

South Orange Rescue Squad’s existence pre-dates the creation of the 9-1-1 centralized emergency system that was established across the country in the mid-1970s.

“Prior to that, there was no organized system; the only people around to take you to the hospital was likely a funeral operator who would bring a hearse to your house, or the sheriff,” says Stipe. “There were fire departments that had firetrucks but they had no way to transport patients to a hospital.”

Various state agencies came together with the idea of organizing a system to respond to emergencies on behalf of their citizenry. Individuals from the Carrboro Fire Department were instrumental in establishing the South Orange Rescue Squad. SORS has operated continuously to the present.

As a one-hundred-percent volunteer operation, South Orange Rescue Squad needs community support and continuous donations to deliver emergency medical, ambulance and technical services. “We need community engagement to be able to provide a high-quality level of services,” says Shipman. “Ambulances and rescue equipment are expensive.” The skilled and dedicated volunteers offer their services for free.

“The important message we want to affirm to our community is that we’re not going anywhere,” says Shipman. “We’re going to be here for another 50 years.”

Since the founding of the South Orange Rescue Squad, upwards of 2,000 volunteers have worn the patch, according to Stipe. The 50th Anniversary Open House will seek to celebrate them all.

For more information about South Orange Rescue Squad visit https://sors.us/.