Talk:Rescue squad

message: Whoever put the fire/rescue system slant on a Rescue Squad is wrong.  Look up any "Rescue Squad" in Google and you will see Rescue Squads are actually EMS based and NOT fire based. You typed:
"In the fire/rescue system, a Rescue Squad is a specialized piece of emergency apparatus, like an Engine (also commonly called a "wagon" or "pumper") and a Truck (also called a "ladder truck" or "tower"). Staffed by career or volunteer Firefighter/EMTs, rescue squads contain equpiment needed for a wide variety of rescue incidents, but their primary purposes are 1) search and rescue of trapped occupants in burning structures, and 2) stablization of vehicles and extrication of trapped patients after motor vehicle collisions. "
Stop including it.  You know Rescue Squads are 90% EMS based with no affiliation to a fire department.  This is just another way Fire Departments are trying to steal the attention. You are dead wrong.  90% of all true Rescue Squads are actually First Aid Squads. Keep your fire slant out of this.  It's like me going to the fire department article and saying that it is run by an EMS squad.  The term Rescue Squad especially in the northeast is used synonomously for First Aid Squads and EMS units.  You know that....so cut the slant for fire departments.
Further...how can a SQUAD be a piece of equipment?
As just some examples.  See http://www.rescuesquad.net/ and http://www.rescue14.com/  http://www.tuckahoerescuesquad.org/    http://www.ebrs.org/  http://www.rescue5.com/   http://www.colchesterrescue.org/ http://www.kvers.net/  http://www.fredrescue.org/  http://www.berkcorescue.org/ 
So cut out the fire slant.  You are false.  Rescue Squads are EMS based.  Be factual or you'll have to be blocked.
----
allright, time out. I didn't write this article, but time to vouch for it. This miscommunication is known as an equivocation, and the first step to understanding it is accepting that google does not define reality. a rescue squad can refer to a type of department, or it can refer to a piece of apparatus. 
As a piece of apparatus, a rescue squad can be designated as either a light, medium, or heavy rescue squad. The general designation "rescue squad" usually refers to medium or heavy, depending on the jurisdiction. It is basically a toolbox on wheels, so the firefighter/rescuers that man it need to be specially trained. The primary function of rescue squads is SAR at fires, and specialty rescues such as Auto Extrication, Technical or Rope Rescue, or Collapse Rescue.
As a type of department, a rescue squad differs from a fire department in that it houses primarily EMS units (BLS and ALS) and support vehicles. If it houses fire apparatus, chances are it will house a specialty service like a heavy rescue squad. The latter definition (departmental) is based on experience within my county.
some examples of rescue squads in Montgomery county, Maryland:
* [www.bccrs.org/ Rescue 1], housing rescue squads 18 and 19, 
* [www.wvrs.org/ Rescue 2], housing rescue squads 28 and 29
Bottom line: this article is ambiguous. I propose we split the article into an article referring to Rescue Squad departments, and an article referring to Rescue Squad Units. Shaggorama 12:25, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: Saw this on the 3rd opinion. I'd like to point out that both Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and Palm Beach Gardens Fire Dept. have a "rescue squad". They are fire/rescue....not solely EMS. ⇒ SWATJester  Ready  Aim  Fire! 07:01, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  3rd opinion 

message: First, sign your comments.
Ok, do we want a dab page for different meanings of the term rescue squad? 
Something like:
:Rescue squad redirects here.  For other uses of the term rescue squad, see Rescue Squad (disambiguation)
then on that page, we link to
:*Rescue Squad: a emergency service department yadda yadda yadda Emergency Medical and First Aid service
:*Heavy Rescue Vehicle|Rescue Squad: an emergency vehicle etc.
:*And whatever else: et cetera
-MPD01605 23:29, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's fine, but, we're not arguing that.  Anymore at least.  Lord I hope not.  We're arguing a DAB for rescue squad.  I do say that this article remain "Rescue Squad".  But anon user, you could still voice your opinion above so that we can come to consensus.  --MPD01605 16:28, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  DAB Consensus 

message: Rescue squad (disambiguation)  --MPD01605 (T / C) 05:10, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Voila

message: Okay... this article had MAJOR copyvio issues.
I've edited this article thusly:
* The Buena Vista Rescue Squad Example section has been removed. Copyvio: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/villa/2684/rescue1.html
*The South Orange Rescue Squad Example section has been removed. Copyvio: http://www.sorescue.org/pages/history.shtml
*Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad Example section removed. Copyvio: http://www.pvrs.org/History/History.htm
*Purdue University Rescue Squad Example section removed. Copyvio: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~thesquad/history.html
*Knoxville Volunteer Emergency Rescue Squad Example section removed. Copyvio: http://www.kvers.net/
*"Leonardtown Volunteer Rescue Squad (MD)" - Example removed. Copyvio: Self-admitted.
*"Fire Department of New York" Example removed. Copyvio: www.pbs.org/wnet/heroes/print/history.html
 
I've also removed the MASSIVE external links section because it is entirely too large. I have also left the appropriate nothanks template on the user's talk page.
Signed,
JJJJust 02:45, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Summary of Edits to Article 

message: I live in England and this article is poor. I cannot begin to understand what it's saying. I thought an encyclopedia was written for readers worldwide? If most of this article is baffling then something is wrong with it! It needs a rewrite (although I'm not qualified to do it) so that a reader in, say, England, does not have to read too much about the complexities of which Authority gets to do what in US Rescue, but can read more about what Rescue work actually involves - Adrian Pingstone 17:32, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: First, that's really random.  Second, please be more wary of your typing (Bethesda, Charlottesville).  Third, again, that's random.  The comment you replied(?) to is from November.  You also come off as really uptight.  Please don't worry too much about it.  The article needs some work, yes, and there's no need to get into semantics over what is or isn't a rescue squad because frankly it's a stupid discussion that goes nowhere.  The article explains that.  Also, please sign your comments.  --MPD T / C 22:39, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incomprehensible!! 

message: I have reverted the article back to the version posted in may by MPD. I feel that his version of the article was pretty solid, and has been largely lost due to significant revision by our disagreeable, anonymous editor. I will try to encorporate the few positive edits made since his. Shaggorama 02:46, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Revert 

message: First, let me introduce myself.  I'm J.T.  I'm a 16 year veteran of Rescue & EMS in Virginia, and the director of the Virginia Rescue & EMS Foundation, a grassroots non-profit with the mission of assisting volunteer EMS Agencies, & EMS Providers in general.
I'm not really sure where the term "rescue squad" originated, but in Virginia, as a previous writer mentioned, when you say "Rescue Squad", you're more than likely referring to a volunteer EMS Agency, one with ambulances...and possibly a rescue/extrication truck as well.
Granted, in other places, a "Rescue Squad" can mean a specific piece of apparatus, such as a rescue truck.  Baltimore Fire Dept (Maryland), I think, has referred to their rescue trucks as such.
There's no real "RIGHT" side of this argument, as all are correct.  Just don't come to Virginia and expect the average layperson to think you mean a rescue truck, when referring to a "Rescue Squad".  Keep in mind, "Volunteer Rescue" originated here in Virginia.
References...
History of Roanoke Life Saving Crew (pdf file)
Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad (Busiest Volunteer Rescue Squad in the world)]
My own experiences over the past 16 years
(J T Strong of varems.org 04:07, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rescue Squads 

message: Cease and desist. I appreciate your pride in your squad, but: 
# citing your own organization as a source doesn't cut it. Find a realiable third party, published historical source to verify your claims. 
# wikipedia attempts to maintain a neutral POV. This elimination of bias includes regional bias. Even if Belmar was the first squad in NJ (which seems credible, although you haven't produced any good sources), It seems unlikely it was the first squad in the US, less the world, even if we cast aside the ongoing debate on what consitutes a squad.
This has gone on long enough. If you seroiusly wish to continue, please address my above comments, and it would be helpful if you would register, which seems reasonable since you have been editing regularly for two or three years now. --Shaggorama (talk) 06:03, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Belmar Anonymous editor 

message: Well, you are obviously very heated over this subject....add to that ignorant and wrong. I am a paid fulltime fireman in California, and we have Squads at my department. We staff them with firefighters that perform specialized tasks such as rope rescue and auto extrication. I have never heard an ambulance referred to as a squad, some departments call them rescues, and some fire departments have paramedic squads, that do not transport, but follow up with private ambulance companies (squad 51 style, from EMERGENCY!). So before you go on a crazy rant , pulling information only from your little bubble in NJ or wherever you are, I suggest you get your facts straight...  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.10.32.15 (talk) 19:08, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Old discussion that keeps getting opened up (2006-2008). No need to revive it again. Rescue Squad has multiple meanings, and let's leave it at that. A person can be rescued from entrapment, or from medical decline, so both uses make sense, and both uses are in widespread... use. My only quibble is semantic - a rescue squad is never a piece of equipmen; it may be a company that is trained in use of a specific type of equipment and assigned to man a particular instance (piece) of equipment of that type, but it is not the equipment itself. There are ladder trucks and ladder companies, we don't confuse the two. Likewise, let's not confuse rescue trucks/equipment and rescue squads/companies. The term "unit" can be ambiguous that way, as a unit may be refer to a particular truck, crew, or member of the crew. Dovid (talk) 16:57, 18 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  whoever is going crazy demanding that Squads are only EMS based