By Charles Wilborn
Danville Register & Bee
DANVILLE, Va. — The first night Keith Carroll was at the Danville Life Saving Crew, he told himself he wanted to get his 10 years.
“I’m going to be a life member of this organization,” he recalled. The reason? Fellowship. Even after 80 years in operation and evolution, that’s the one thing that hasn’t changed.
“It was very family-oriented,” Carroll said. “Still is.”
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The nonprofit rescue organization is in its eighth decade of serving Danville and other areas.
Carroll, a paramedic in the Danville Life Saving Crew’s community paramedicine program, said being a part of the crew taught him “a whole lot” through the years beyond emergency medicine.
He learned how to talk — and interact — with people.
And it always proved to be a gathering spot.
“We would go up there and converse at the end of the day,” he explained of the crew hall when the young members weren’t married.
“This organization has brought a lot of people up to the higher level,” Carroll said in an interview with the Register & Bee. It also kept him out of trouble. Many people who have come through the crew go on to become nurses or even doctors. One time, a teen told Caroll he wanted to go to college and be a doctor.
“I said, ‘How do you know you are going to like it?” he responded.
The teen didn’t have an answer for that. So, he came to the crew to get a free look at the world of medicine and is now a paramedic.
At the same time that it cements one person’s path, it can be a red flag for another to pick a different one.
“Because some folks can’t take what they see,” Carroll explained. “More than one has been the fire chief of the Danville Fire Department,” said Brian Alderson, the director of the Danville Area Training Center.
Alderson himself retired from the fire department. Once an all-volunteer organization, it has flipped to become mostly paid staff members. Odell Tata, the crew’s chaplain, has been with the nonprofit since 1969. Even years ago, when it was easier to find volunteers, being part of a rescue organization meant spending a lot of time away from families.
It also required dedication, Tate explained.
“It took a huge amount of time,” he said. I can’t tell you the hours.”
Generational experience
And it becomes a generation as parents come in to see the “benefits of helping your fellow man,” Tate explained.
When he was young, he would bring his son along on calls.
“He would go with me on calls, and he would see how things really worked,” Tate recalled.
Then, when his son graduated from high school, he went into nursing, all born from the days of running emergency calls with his father.
“He’s still saving lives today through that,” Tate said, “You get involved in so much here, and you see so many things in life,” he said. Not only did volunteers operate the rescue calls, but also in every other area, like finance.
“Now we’ve got whole departments to do that for us,” Johnny Mills, the CEO of the Danville Life Saving Crew, said.
He joined in 1982. Even with the changes, one thing that remains steady is the high caliber of work expected out of everyone.
“Everything is quality,” Tate said. “There are so many checks and balances.”
Crew Chief Robbie Woodall said that 10% of the calls go through a random quality check where they review notes.
“We keep up with all of this data,” Woodall said. “That’s how we improve with the service we provide.”
He credited Tate with being a “big part” of that. Tate first started out with basic first aid, and now, in addition to his clergy duties, he has the highest skill set of a provider.
“You got critiqued on everything from the time you walked in the door until the time you left,” Mills said when going through training of the crew.
Still a need for volunteers
With the “economic conditions” of today’s time, many people work two jobs, leaving no other free time to volunteer.
But Mills still wants to leave a place for the volunteers. It still makes him proud when people come by and ask how they can get involved and help. He still sees young volunteers helping with the community. For anyone who’s interested, Mills suggests just stopping by.
“Come down for a ride along,” he said of the option available for anyone 16 and older. “Come talk to us.”
Woodall said there’s a partnership with Danville Community College that offers a night class for those who want to become an emergency medical provider. For many, there’s no cost.
After a recent class, three students became volunteers for the crew.
“We are blessed to have them,” Woodall said of the volunteers who do standby duties at football games and such.
For individuals who want a full-time career, there’s a program for that as well.
“Our recruit academy is an excellent opportunity for someone who has no medical background to get into it,” Mills explained of that apprenticeship program that was the first-of-its-kind in the state.
“We’ve gotten some very good staff from there who probably wouldn’t have had that exposure,” he said.
Being associated with the crew also elevates a person’s standing in the community, given the reputation for quality and standards.
“Even now, the life-saving crew has enough stance in the community that it’s almost like that’s a reference in itself,” Alderson said.
He said when it comes to putting it on a resume, “it’s going to be a bonus for you.”
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