ED HUGHESLakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad's longest-serving active member

Growing up behind the former Lakeside Volunteer Fire Department, Ed Hughes heard plenty of sirens, but rarely from an ambulance.

"A lot of times, if you got sick or something, people would carry you to the hospital in a car," sometimes in hearses, Hughes said. "They didn't have ambulances."

That changed in 1958, when the Lakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad was established. Hughes, 70, is the Lakeside squad's longest-serving active member, with 26 years of service.

"I like what I do. I feel like I'm doing something for somebody," Hughes said.

To mark its 50th anniversary, the Lakeside Volunteer Rescue Squad plans to throw a community celebration Aug. 16-17, said its president, Tracy Giddens-Jarrett. By supporting the squad's twice-yearly fundraising campaigns and volunteering, the community has made free, 24-hour emergency medical care possible, she said.

"We like providing care to everybody -- the same kind of care no matter whether they can pay or not," Giddens-Jarrett said. "There's really a sense of satisfaction."

The county funds cover training supplies, fuel and insurance, but Henrico County officials estimate that the volunteers save taxpayers about $9 million a year, Giddens-Jarrett said.

Henrico's 22 fire stations and three volunteer rescue squads do not charge for ambulance trips.

Hughes said the squad is seeking donations from businesses to pay for the celebration, which will include children's activities, educational displays and an opportunity for former members to reunite. No funds donated for medical care will be used for the anniversary, he said.

The squad has 69 active volunteers ranging in age from 16 to 70, five ambulances and a smaller emergency vehicle at its station at 2007 Timberlake Ave.

The Henrico Volunteer Rescue Squad, established in 1951, covers the eastern end of the county, and the Tuckahoe Volunteer Rescue Squad, established in 1953, works the western end. The Lakeside squad covers the central part of Henrico, from Richmond International Raceway to Staples Mill Road.

For more information, visit www.lakesiderescue.org or call (804) 266-7498.
Contact Melodie N. Martin at (804) 649-6290 or mmartin@timesdispatch.com.