Bensley Bermuda Volunteer Rescue squad
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Established more than 52 years ago, Bensley-Bermuda Volunteer Rescue Squad ("BBVRS") is an all-volunteer rescue squad providing emergency ambulance and vehicle extrication service to the community. It serves as the primary pre-hospital care provider for approximately 53,800 people inside 70 square miles of eastern Chesterfield County, Virginia, including the Chester, Virginia area. BBVRS responded to nearly 6,400 calls for service in 2005.
[edit] Response Area Demographics
The 70 square miles making up the BBVRS primary response district include heavy industrial, Interstate roads, residential areas and agricultural spaces. Approximately 49% of the land area is used for agriculture, wild land, open space, or undeveloped properties, 34% is used for residential purposes, and 17% of the juristdiction is used for commercial, industrial, or institutional purposes.
The BBVRS response area includes a wide variety of cultutal and economic conditions, including a large population of non-English speaking citizens and including a significant number of economically depressed areas.
BBVRS is one of four volunteer rescue squads serving in Chesterfield County, Virginia. All four squads operate in conjunction with the Chesterfield Fire and EMS Department, a governmental agency providing fire suppression, rescue and ambulance service to the county with full-time, paid personnel. BBVRS makes up three of the nine volunteer rescue stations in the county.
[edit] Organizational Structure
As established in the BBVRS By-Laws, their mission is "To serve as a community rescue squad, providing 24 hour free emergency ambulance and other first aid services; to assist wherever possible in the saving of life or administering first aid; to teach, among its members and throughout the community, methods of safety and first aid; to render such other emergency services for the saving of life and other humane purposes as the Corporation is equipped to render.”
The organization is managed by an eight member Board of Directors, headed by a President. The Board is made up of the following roles: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Chief of Operations, and three Board Members at Large. The Chief of Operations leads the day-to-day operation of BBVRS and is supported by three Operations Officers (one each for weekday day, weekday night and weekend times). All these positions are elected from among the membership at the BBVRS annual meeting.
BBVRS is supported in its mission by two subsidiary orgazations, the Auxiliary and the Juniors. The BBVRS Auxiliary fundraises and coordinates events for BBVRS. The Bensley-Bermuda Junior Volunteer Rescue Squad provides operational staffing for the squad, and is made up for teenagers and young adults of the ages 16-21.
