OUR HISTORY
THE ARC LIFE-SAVING SQUAD
The Chattanooga – Hamilton County Rescue Service (CHCRS) was established in June 1937 as the American Red Cross Life Saving Squad, a volunteer effort to fill an urgent need for emergency services in the Chattanooga area. The founding members were volunteer medical responders certified in Basic Life Support through the American Red Cross. In its first years, CHCRS functioned as a first responder service, but also provided marine rescue, firefighting and medical standby services. Water recoveries were frequent and the American Red Cross furnished the squad with two boats for dragging operations in 1938. These boats were the squad’s first official vehicles.
By 1943, the squad was very active with training of other professionals in lifesaving techniques such as CPR and Basic Life Support. They played a pivotal role in the training of auxiliary police, firefighters and civil air corps leading up to World War II. After the war, the ARC Life Saving Squad expanded membership and services to include motor vehicle extrication and rope rescue.
The 50’s ushered in a decade of expanded federal government involvement in emergency preparedness on the local level. The Federal Civil Defense Administration was founded, and under its authority, states were directed to develop Civil Defense programs and services to support communities more adequately . The squad received its first truck from Tennessee Civil Defense in 1955. The Chevy panel truck was a modified bread delivery truck outfitted for emergency response with lights and sirens. Funding from Civil Defense initiatives allowed the squad to expand both the quality and quantity of services provided to the Chattanooga area.
The American Red Cross ceased participation in emergency medical services in 1958, due to liability concerns with squad members participating in inherently dangerous rescues. After 21 years, the service to the community as the ARC Life Saving Squad ended.
CIVIL DEFENSE RESCUE
The squad became the Civil Defense Rescue Service in 1959. Gene Glaze served as the first Chief of Operations, supported by Dave Evans as Chief of Administration. Paul and Jeanette Wilkerson were key members of the squad at this point. Paul remained heavily involved until his death in 2019 . During the first year, the squad expanded services to five dedicated rescue divisions in an effort to improve effectiveness and response time. The five divisions were Marine Rescue, Underwater Rescue, Cave/Cliff Rescue, Air Rescue, and General Rescue. The volunteers of these units continued to respond to a high volume of emergencies throughout the 60’s due to the strong influence of the Tennessee Civil Defense Agency and a continued lack of organized local government emergency services.
The Cave/Cliff Unit was officially formed by avid caver and squad member, Don Black in the early 60’s. The Cave/Cliff Unit’s first official response was the recovery of a victim who fell 281 feet to his death in Mystery Falls Cave on Lookout Mountain. This was a significant achievement considering the use of ropes for exploration of vertical caves was in its earliest stages, and rope techniques were still being developed. The Cave/Cliff Unit was involved in a number of harrowing cave rescues, including a successful three day search for 3 students in Case Cave on Lookout Mountain in April 1962.
One of the most challenging resuces for the Cave/Cliff Unit was in April 1966, when they were called to rescue a group of Boy Scouts trapped in Howards Waterfall Cave - after an explosion of gas fumes was caused by the group’s carbide lanterns. The incident left three cavers dead. Victims recalled that the explosion was so hot that it burned their clothes off, and residents of nearby Trenton, GA could hear the explosion from many miles away. An investigation into the cause of the explosion discovered a ruptured fuel tank at a nearby gas station had leaked gasoline into the cave.
VEHICLE EXTRICATION
In 1961, the Civil Defense Rescue Service was designated by the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Tennessee as an official arm of both governments’ emergency services. The squad then began vehicle extrication of victims involved in motor vehicle accidents. The squad received the very first set of Hurst extrication tools, better known as the “Jaws of Life,” in the state of Tennessee. At the height of its extrication responsibilities the squad operated four fully equipped vehicles with Hurst tools and was responding to approximately 600 motor vehicle accidents annually.
In the mid 60’s, the city and county were dealing with substandard ambulance services comprised mainly of local funeral home operators. In an effort to help mitigate this shortcoming, the squad acquired two ambulances from the nearby Moccasin Bend Mental Hospital. In an effort to improve the deplorable patient care issues, the team provided free ambulance services with trained medical technicians. Squad members have recalled that hearse operators would leave the scene of an accident if it did not appear any victims would succumb to injuries before reaching the hospital. In late 1969, the Chattanooga Times published a four-part series detailing the horrors of sub-standard patient care provided by funeral home hearse operators. The Times articles were effective in the development of county managed ambulance services and by the mid 70’s the squad eliminated ambulance services due to vast improvements in regulations, patient transport, and care.
In April 1965, a call “too-strange-to-be-true,” dispatched the squad to respond to a Tennessee Highway Patrol request involving a 450-pound grizzly bear. The bear escaped from his pen at a roadside traveling carnival in Marion County, was found wandering Hwy 41, and scaring motorists. Squad members managed to capture the bear using rope and distraction. The bear was walked back down Hwy 41 to his pen without incident.
In the same year, a second unusual call involved a Moccasin Bend Psychiatric Hospital escapee, who attempted escape by navigating the Tennessee River on a log. The escape attempt necessitated a rescue when the escapee became stranded on Williams Island near Baylor School.
STATE CHARTER TO RENAME TEAM
The squad was officially chartered by the State of Tennessee as the Chattanooga – Hamilton County Rescue Service on August 12, 1965. This act dissolved the squad’s ties to the Tennessee Civil Defense Agency and allowed the team to become an independent non-profit organization.
During the 80’s, the city and county made considerable advances in organized emergency response by establishing the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management. The goal was to implement a five year plan to improve emergency services in Hamilton County. On November 4, 1987, the County Commission approved the creation of the Hamilton County EMS to provide Advanced Life Support ambulance services to the Scenic City. In addition, the Chattanooga Fire Department (CFD) began an effort to strategically place vehicle extrication teams across the city to provide better response times to motor vehicle accidents. During this initiative, CHCRS members were instrumental in training the CFD in the techniques of vehicle extrication. The expansion of emergency services from the paid government funded agencies in the city and county inevitably led in the decrease in call volume in the 90’s. The squad would need to reinvent itself in order to remain relevant in an era of well-funded government emergency agencies.
THE 90’S TO TODAY
During the 1990’s additional services included Trench Rescue and Hazmat response. CHCRS continued to evolve to provide valued services to the community and many high profile rescues furthered the squad’s reputation as a professional volunteer organization. The Cave/Cliff Unit had become known as the premier cave rescue team in North America and boasted quite a collection of talented individuals. Many unique situations required the technical expertise of CHCRS in this decade and the squad’s volunteers were always ready to respond to any challenge.