Associated with Hamilton County Emergency Services, Volunteer State Rescue Squad serves Hamilton County as the designated First Response Unit for all water related incidents. VSRS also assists the various Fire Departments and Law Enforcement Agencies in Hamilton County and Chattanooga. In addition to these services, we provide Stand-By personnel and equipment for Festivals and other major events on or near the waterways of the county.

We are a non-profit company incorporated in Tennessee in 1985. Our service to the county began in 1965 as an unincorporated club working for the Hamilton County Office of Civil Defense.

We maintain functionalities for:

1) water rescue and recovery of drowning victims, submerged vehicles, and objects of      evidentiary nature;

2) marine firefighting; and

3) flood and swift water rescue. Skills employed include seamanship, scuba diving, land and      marine navigation, firefighting, and emergency medical administration.

VSRS is a member of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association and the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads, providing assistance to agencies in surrounding counties in Georgia, Alabama and eastern Tennessee. Likewise if we need additional resources here, we can call upon these organizations for assistance.

We are available to provide educational presentations on water safety issues, public safety diving, and emergency services to interested groups of any age.

We train on at least a monthly basis on topics such as diving operations, dragging, boating procedures, marine firefighting, swift water rescue, emergency vehicle operations, radiological events, and hazmat containment. Members with appropriate training and experience may have the opportunity for certification in firefighting, swift water rescue, public safety diving, underwater crime scene investigation, medical first responder, and diving accident medical treatment.