- Julian Stanley Wise
Julian Stanley Wise (
1900 -July 22 ,1985 ), was the founder of theRoanoke Life Saving and First Aid Crew , the firstvolunteer rescue squad in the United States.In 1909, Wise was walking along the banks of the
Roanoke River inRoanoke ,Virginia , when he witnessed two men capsize acanoe in deep, rough water. Though many onlookers saw the accident, none of them had the equipment or training to offer much in the way of help, and both men drowned. Wise later said of the incident, "I vowed that never again would I watch a man die when he could have been saved if only those around him knew how."That incident stayed with Wise, and on
May 28 ,1928 , Wise and nine coworkers at theNorfolk and Western Railway began the first volunteer rescue squad. Wise proved the worth of the squad by staging a mock rescue in 1929, sinking a 250-pound dummy in a pond and calling out the rescue squad. The city ofRoanoke , impressed by the demonstration, agreed to provide communication support. A local funeral home donated an ambulance, and Wise's vision became a reality.By 1966, when the
Highway Safety Act was passed in theUnited States , thousands of rescue squads had sprung up throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world. With the passage of the Highway Safety Act, training standards forEmergency Medical Technician s were enacted.Julian Wise died in Roanoke on
July 22 ,1985 , at the age of 85. In a poignant twist, the Roanoke Life Saving and First Aid Squad received a call five hours after Wise's death for a possible drowning in the Roanoke River. The thirteen-year-old victim was successfully saved.On
June 8 ,1991 , The Julian Stanley Wise Foundation opened a volunteer rescue museum in Roanoke. Julian Wise's widow,Ruth Light Wise was present at the opening.References
* "EMT Rescue", by Pat Ivey (ISBN 0-7592-4464-2)
* "To the Rescue", the volunteer rescue museum, Roanoke, VA - http://www.homestead.com/totherescue/
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