• Our Mission

    Essex Rescue is committed to being a leader in EMS and to providing our communities with excellence in prehospital care. We strive for this by maintaining the highest standards of our profession, caring for our patients, their families, and the community, and preventing illness and injury through public education.

  • Our Vision

    Our communities will receive innovative, clinically superior, patient-centric care; realized through collaborative efforts and provided by highly trained and motivated members.

  • Our Core Beliefs

    View our core beliefs and values and our statements on diversity and envrionmental impact.

    Learn More 

Our Career Staff

Our employees answer 911 calls, provide training and mentorship for our volunteers and serve on Vermont EMS District 3 committees, and perform all the necessary administrative functions to operate the organization.

Give us a call: 802-878-4589

OUR BOARD

The Board of Directors provides governance and oversight of our
organization. It is made up of elected volunteers and community members.
Let us know if you're interested in joining our board.

  • Board Members

    • Peter Mutolo – President
    • Mike O'Keefe – Vice President
    • Bob Morgan – Treasurer
    • Brady Kimball – Secretary
    • Jean Ashe
    • Jeff Spencer

  • Community Board Member Opportuities

    Elections of community members to the board happen in June. The board is always looking for interest from our community. To inquire about serving on our board, please email our board president.

OUR HISTORY

Before 1971, if you called for a medical emergency, it's likely that a funeral home would transport you to the hospital. Funeral home directors and staff were often uncertified and only provided rides to the emergency department out of courtesy or fear that the patient may not survive the transport.

A paradigm shift was taking place as public awareness increased toward the end of the 1960's. Volunteer rescue squads such as St. Michael's Rescue emerged and ski patrols became more common. A small group of dedicated community members lead by Ed Ziemer, Tom Raub, Don Hamlin, Marg Gerford, and Guy Dayton among others began to build support for an organization to serve Essex, Essex Junction, Jericho, Underhill, and Westford in the Summer of 1971.

Most of the original group were involved in the Smuggler's Notch or Bolton Valley Ski Patrols. To supplement their knowledge of emergency care, they enrolled in the American Red Cross First Aid Course. This 10 hour class taught basic first aid skills and affirmed their desire to start a new rescue squad. Once certified in first aid, Essex Rescue went into service on October 1, 1971.

Funding their mission was accomplished through community, municipal, and member donations. With the original money raised, Essex Rescue was able to purchase a new $9,000 ambulance and medical supplies. The Essex High School generously donated a bay to store the ambulance. In the year that followed, additional money and labor was donated to construct a building next to the high school at 1 Educational Drive. One of the most notable labor donations made to Essex Rescue was from the vocational students at the Essex High School. Their hard work lead to the construction of the old wing and an addition in 2009.

You might be asking yourself how Essex Rescue was notified of calls in that first year of service if there was no building for crew members to receive calls. The original dispatch system relied on pagers and a "red phone" system that allowed each crew captain to hear an emergency call placed to the Essex Rescue emergency number. The emergency number, 878-8300 was routed to an answering service run by Mrs. Duquette. Each of the crew captains had a red phones in their home or office that allowed them to keep informed as to what calls were going out. In years that followed, radios replaced the need for red phones. But we still have one at the station that rings each time a call comes in.

EQUIPMENT AND FACILITY

With the strong support of our communities, subscribers, and donors, we are able to care for our patients with life-saving technologies and provide a comfortable base for our volunteers and staff to standby for calls, every day and night of the year.

  • Our station houses three ambulances, and includes: a training room for squad and community events, offices, a gym, a living room, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen. We also have four bedrooms which allow for some sleep when the crew is not on calls. Our personnel stay within our building throughout their shifts to ensure our ambulance responds quickly. Our station affords our crew many of the same qualities they find at home.

  • We maintain three ambulances and a rapid response SUV to answer emergency calls.

    • Essex 3 - 2019 Ford F550 Braun Chief XL
    • Essex 2 - 2017 Ford F450 Braun Chief XL
    • Essex 1 - 2015 Chevy 4500 Braun Chief XL
    • Car 4 - 2019 Ford Escape Response Vehicle

THE TOWNS WE COVER

We are the first ambulance to respond to emergency calls in Essex Junction, Essex, Jericho, Underhill, and Westford.

View Map Of Our Coverage Area