South Orange Rescue Squad’s Been Saving People for 55 Years

COMMUNITY NEWS

ORANGE COUNTY – The all-volunteer South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS) began helping people in crisis long before there was a 9-1-1 number to call. They haven’t stopped since.

“We have ambulances on duty from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. every night, all year round,” Marie Rossettie, the vice-chair of SORS’ board of directors, said in an interview. “We staff a lot of sporting and community events, and we respond to fires anywhere in the county.” They don’t fight fires, but they help evacuees, making sure they have cellphones, chargers, medication, and whatever else is immediately needed. “All of that is the beauty of having an all-volunteer organization working with the county.”

SORS history

The SORS website states that the Hillsborough-based Orange County Rescue Squad was organized in 1968 to provide volunteer rescue services throughout the county. In 1971, volunteers established SORS in Carrboro as a second service. At the time, “there was no emergency medical transport service serving our community.” In 1974, SORS built a stand-alone station on Roberson Street. SORS volunteers are trained to staff ambulances serving the community, including the UNC campus.

It’s the same model SORS follows today. Operations are divided into three divisions: EMS, Technical Rescue Team, and CPR/Community Education.

Rossettie says she joined in 2019 as an EMT and was appointed to the board of directors the following year. She served with the EMS division for several years, then became vice chair in 2024, and now serves in the CPR division and on the fundraising and social media committees. Being an EMT had been a huge part of her life since college, but it was “pretty grueling and tough on my body.”

“The CPR division is community education and training,” Rossettie says. “It’s great with teaching CPR in the community, as well as Narcan use and first aid. All that training is free of charge to the community.”

SORS offers free CPR, first aid and Stop the Bleed classes to local nonprofits, civic groups, businesses and families like this one. Photo courtesy SORS Member and CPR Lead Caroline Williams.

The technical rescue team specializes in rescuing people from confined spaces, high-angle and waterborne rescues, and deploying statewide. Rossettie said while many fire departments have similar training, “having additional people who are highly equipped and constantly bettering those skills is such an advantage.”

The organization put all its skills to work during Tropical Storm Chantal, Rossettie said, with the EMS and technical rescue divisions working to help however they could. “We’re always prepared; we track these things a little more closely than other organizations, whether it’s hurricanes off the coast or Helene out of the mountains. Chantal, hitting so close to home, was difficult.”

Many members of the EMS division continued helping even when they weren’t on active shifts. “I took a van from the station to help clean Arts Mill,” Rossettie said. “They were helping muck out art studios, load dumpsters and bring food.” It reminded her of the COVID-19 pandemic, when SORS volunteers administered vaccinations and helped at food banks. “I’m always amazed at how much empathy our members have. They volunteer their time and their expertise, even if they’re getting paid in other healthcare capacities.”

If you want to help

If you’d like to contribute, Rossettie said. SORS can always use donations. “Equipment is very expensive, the insurance is very expensive, and our station is on the older side. These are hard times for everyone. We know that it’s difficult to have an organization that relies on donations when everything feels a little spread thin.”

Another way to contribute is to volunteer. There’s an application page covering all three divisions on the website. “We hold open houses usually about once a year,” Rossettie says. “All divisions are happy to chat with interested parties. We give station tours — we’re happy to see which division would align with their personal goals.” SORS is comfortable with people changing those goals over time, as she moved from EMS to CPR.

“We can use volunteers in any capacity they are able to participate in,” Rossettie says. “Lots of board members don’t have emergency backgrounds. They can come at things from different backgrounds — social media, finance — and help in other ways.” For instance, Rossettie said she has a background in the arts, so she can help when SORS needs to design a postcard, a mailer, or content for social media. “Everybody contributes in ways that are unique.”

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press