In the early 1970’s, emergency medical care was very different than today’s standards. It was suspected that seventy percent of first aid transportation was done by funeral homes as they had the only vehicles in which a patient could lay down in. At the time, in Stowe, emergency care was provided by the Stowe Fire Department. The men were trained in first aid and had purchased, with their own funds, a state-of –the-art Cadillac ambulance to transport their patients to the nearest medical facility, which was Copley Hospital in Morristown .

   Pre-hospital emergency care, however, was changing rapidly at the time. A local nurse and member of Mount Mansfield’s Ski Patrol, Judy Aronow was working with the newly formed State EMS Department running emergency care courses and she brought that training back to Stowe. She and David Modica of the Burlington Fire Department’s Rescue Unit ran the first EMT course under the guidance of Dr. Lewis Blowers from Copley Hospital .

In that class were the people who were to form the nucleus of the area’s Emergency Medical team, the founders of Morristown, Hardwick, Stowe, and Waterbury rescue departments: Joan Urie and Patty Myer from Hardwick, Pearl Metayer from Waterbury, Cabot Lyman from Morristown, policemen such as Ed Webster, Jim Moran, Bud Laclair, Ed Stewart, and Ken Libby, ski patrolmen such as Bill Westermann, Glen Urie, Tom Mendes, and Willy Kayfus.

These police and ski patrolmen were to prove invaluable in the formation of Stowe Rescue, not only because they received this training, but because they were the only ones who had ever treated an injured patient out in the field! There was much local interest in upgrading emergency care and in 1974, approval was given for the formation of an ambulance squad in Morristown . In that same year the Ambulance District was formed and a Board elected. Stowe was being pressured by the state to upgrade its training but the members of the fire department felt they could not devote that much time to the training. At this time several events gave new urgency to the formation of a rescue squad in Stowe. Bunny and Ken Libby were at the Stowe Tennis Club when a player suffered a cardiac arrest. They realized that a rescue squad with advanced equipment and trained personnel was needed in Stowe. They joined the growing number of people willing to form a squad. The town selectman approved the formation of the squad in October 1974. It wasn’t until a few months later that enough people completed the required Advanced First Aid course that was being offered, along with those who had already taken the EMT course, when on January 17, 1975, eighteen new volunteers began taking call along with the firemen who served as drivers.

   That first year was exciting and challenging. Squad members purchased their own jump kits and medical supplies. They were dispatched by the Stowe Answering Service by telephone. This meant that squad members had to be near a telephone (and this was before cordless or cellular phones!!!) for the 12 or 24 hours that they were on call, two to four times per week!  In the summer of 1975, one incident in particular served to cement the squad and proved it’s worth to the town. A school bus carrying 28 children turned over on the access rode in Smugglers Notch. Of the 23 squad members, 15 responded along with crews from Morristown and Lamoille ambulance. Fifteen children were transported to Copley Hospital and Medical Center . The police, fire department and the new Rescue Squad had handled it’s first major multiple casualty situation and had done themselves proud.

In 1976, a new ambulance was added through the generosity of two individuals, the support of the town and the selectmen, and the success of the now famous Barn Dance fund raiser. The squad now numbered about thirty, and has since remained between thirty and forty members since then. The squad continued to share quarters with the fire department until 1979 when a separate building was constructed, now housing part of the existing police department. The rescue squad later moved back in with the expanded fire station in the mid eighties where they still remain today sharing space along side with the fire crews and Stowe Mountain Rescue (previously known as Hazardous Terrain Team).

Stowe Mountain Rescue, which began as a branch from the Rescue Squad, is now one of the states most respected back country rescue operations.

    The eighties and nineties saw continued growth and improvement in the delivery of health care. EMT’s were now being trained in advanced airway management, intravenous therapy, medication administration, EKG interpretation and defibrillation. Stowe’s members have consistently sought advanced training and have always been recognized as being one of the leading volunteer based ambulance services in the State.

    In 2006, for the first time, Stowe Rescue registered with the State as being a paramedic level service. Now with an expanded scope of skills combined with state-of-the-art equipment and expanded pharmaceuticals, Stowe Rescue is able to provide Advanced Life Support to the community meeting the standard of care that is expected. The organization now consists of full and part-time paid employees, including a department Director who is a paramedic. The back bone of the service is still that of the 35 or so volunteers. It is the extensive training and dedication that these individuals bring forth that make Stowe Rescue the professional organization that they are recognized for.  That first year back in 1975, the squad responded to 150 calls. In 2007, it’s 40 members responded to over 700 calls!