Virginia State Emergency Medical Services Museum

"To the Rescue"

Roanoke, Virginia

Adopted in 1994

To The Rescue (located in the city of Roanoke, Virginia) was designated the official emergency medical services museum of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1994.

The first rescue squad in the world was founded in Roanoke, Virginia (the Roanoke Life Saving and First Aid Crew in 1928). The To The Rescue museum was established as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the worldwide history, training, promotion, and support of those who serve to save lives."

The To The Rescue Museum was located in the Tanglewood Mall in Roanoake Virginia, and IS NO LONGER OPEN. It was one of the earliest attempts to document the history of rescue and EMS in the nation. Though unable to keep their doors open, their spirit and mission found a new home in the National EMS Museum Foundation, when their Board of Directors donated a significant portion of their collection of EMS equipment and artifacts.

Virginia Emergency Medical Services Museum
"To the Rescue"

To the Rescue, the only permanent national museum dedicated to volunteer lifesaving, brings an international spotlight to Roanoke as the birthplace of the rescue squad movement. It was adopted as Virginia's State Emergency Medical Services Museum.

Julian Stanley Wise never forgot when, as a 9-year-old Roanoker, he stood helplessly by as two men drowned when their canoe capsized on the Roanoke River. He vowed then that he would organize a group of volunteers who could be trained in lifesaving. He did.

In 1928 he and his crew of N&W Railway workers became the first volunteer rescue squad in America to use lifesaving, rescue and first aid techniques on victims. Later, they were the first to use iron lungs during the polio epidemics that struck the country. They pioneered the Nielson method of lifesaving and modern-day cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Famous museum expert Conover Hunt, a Virginia native whose major project was The Sixth Floor, the JFK Museum in Dallas, oversaw the creation of the exhibit, which includes dramatic hands-on interactive videos and displays. The quality and brilliance shows. The exhibit includes artifacts from 31 states and three countries. To the Rescue also houses the VA Hall of Fame. Additionally, exhibits include the National EMS Memorial, recognizing 99 men and women from 30 states who gave their lives while saving others.

The To The Rescue Museum was located in the Tanglewood Mall in Roanoake Virginia, and IS NO LONGER OPEN. It was one of the earliest attempts to document the history of rescue and EMS in the nation. Though unable to keep their doors open, their spirit and mission found a new home in the National EMS Museum Foundation, when their Board of Directors donated a significant portion of their collection of EMS equipment and artifacts to us.

Virginia Law

The law designating "To The Rescue," located in the City of Roanoke. as the official Virginia state emergency medical services museum is found in the Code of Virginia, Title 1, Chapter 5, Section 1-510. Virginia symbols were re-organized under one section of the Code of Virginia in 2005.

Title 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Chapter 5 - Emblems
? 1-510. Official emblems and designations.

The following are hereby designated official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth:

Artisan Center - "Virginia Artisans Center," located in the City of Waynesboro.

Bat - Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinos townsendii virginianus).

Beverage - Milk.

Blue Ridge Folklore State Center - Blue Ridge Institute located in the village of Ferrum.

Boat - "Chesapeake Bay Deadrise."

Covered Bridge Capital of the Commonwealth - Patrick County.

Covered Bridge Festival - Virginia Covered Bridge Festival held in Patrick County.

Dog - American Foxhound.

Emergency medical services museum - "To The Rescue," located in the City of Roanoke.

Fish - Brook Trout.

Fleet - Replicas of the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, which comprised the Commonwealth's founding fleet that brought the first permanent English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, and which are exhibited at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg.

Flower - American Dogwood ( Cornus florida).

Folk dance - Square dancing, the American folk dance that traces its ancestry to the English Country Dance and the French Ballroom Dance, and is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers, and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, the Virginia Reel, and heritage dances.

Fossil - Chesapecten jeffersonius.

Gold mining interpretive center - Monroe Park, located in the County of Fauquier.

Insect - Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus Linne).

Motor sports museum - "Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame," located in Patrick County.

Outdoor drama - "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama," adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap.

Outdoor drama, historical - "The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith, and performed in the City of Radford.

Shell - Oyster shell (Crassostrea virginica).

Song emeritus - "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," by James A. Bland, as set out in the House Joint Resolution 10, adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia at the Session of 1940.

Sports hall of fame - "Virginia Sports Hall of Fame," located in the City of Portsmouth.

War memorial museum - "Virginia War Museum," (formerly known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia), located in the City of Newport News.

(Code 1950, ?? 7-35, 7-36, 7-37; 1966, cc. 102, 547, ?? 7.1-37, 7.1-38, 7.1-39; 1974, c. 24, ? 7.1-40; 1982, c. 191, ? 7.1-40.1; 1986, c. 138, ? 7.1-40.2; 1988, c. 317, ? 7.1-40.3; 1991, cc. 71, 575, ?? 7.1-40.4, 7.1-40.5; 1993, cc. 251, 509, ? 7.1-40.6; 1994, cc. 33, 134, 220, 464, ?? 7.1-40.2:1, 7.1-40.8; 1995, cc. 12, 180, ? 7.1-40.2:2; 1996, c. 52, ? 7.1-40.9; 1997, cc. 66, 576, ? 7.1-40.10; 1999, cc. 69, 336, ? 7.1-40.11; 2001, cc. 97, 134, ? 7.1-40.12; 2001, c. 228, ? 7.1-40.13; 2005, cc. 557, 839; 2006, c. 128; 2007, cc. 391, 685; 2008, c. 262.)