Mailing Address: 709 Second Avenue Marlinton, WV 24954 Office: 304-799-4211 Fax: 304-799-2242 Dispatch: 304-799-4567 Marlinton Rescue Squad is an all volunteer, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) provider. We have been serving Marlinton and a large part of Pocahontas County since 1955. Our squad is staffed by 25 volunteer-professional EMS team members. We serve approximately 6,000 full-time residents and we experience an influx of over 12,000 tourists traveling through our district to the Snowshoe/Silver Creek Resort and other tourists attractions in the area daily. We cover several thousand acres of the Monongahela National Forest as well as several large state parks. We provide EMS coverage by volunteer call-out crews. We are assisted by OUR Ambulance Service of Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, a paid service who covers our response area during the weekday hours between 7:00AM and 5:00PM while our volunteers are at their regular jobs. Weekends from 5:00PM Friday until 7:00AM Monday are covered solely by our volunteer crews. All of our members are required to complete an EMT-Basic class within one year of joining the Squad. All new EMTs are required to complete three evaluation calls, including medical, trauma and transport, prior to being allowed to respond alone. All drivers are required to successfully complete an EVOC class prior to driving an ambulance in an emergency response. Although we are a volunteer organization, we do bill for our services. (Click Here to view our billing rates) Our organization is funded entirely by our ambulance billing. We do accept donations, but these are generally minimal and are not enough to support our service. We receive minimal funding from the County Commission. Marlinton Rescue Squad is licensed by the WV Dept of Health & Human Resources, Office of Emergency Medical Services as a Superior EMS provider. Marlinton Rescue Squad meets for business and training on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. About Our Area: Marlinton is located in Pocahontas County, on the extreme eastern West Virginia/Virginia border. The county is very rural, with Marlinton being the largest city (pop. 2000). The entire county population is just over 10,000. Pocahontas County is the third largest county in WV with 942.8 square miles. Eight rivers form their headwaters in Pocahontas County. This often leads to flash flooding problems in the spring and fall. In 1985, we experienced a devastating flood which destroyed all three of our ambulances. We again had severe flooding in January and May 1996, however, we did not lose any equipment in those incidents. Marlinton is 26 miles south of Snowshoe Mountain Resort, and we have many, many year-round tourist attractions such as: Monongahela National Forest, Watoga State Park, Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cass Scenic Railroad, Greenbrier River Trail, Seneca State Forest, Beartown State Park, Cranberry Wilderness Area, Highland Scenic Highway, and other local attractions. Marlinton is also host to two large annual celebrations, Pioneer Days in July, and the Autumn Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cookoff in September. We are also very popular with several motorcycle groups including Harley Owners Groups, who have regular conventions and shows in the area. About Our Runs: Though the majority of our runs are short in mileage, we do cover areas of the county which are more than 30 miles from our station, often in very rough terrain. Transport times of over one hour are not uncommon. Such long transport times require that we keep our staff in excellent training and our quality assurance program enforces 10 minute on-scene times. Any crew who spends more than 10 minutes on a scene must justify the extended stay in a quality review. Our 911 Dispatch Center automatically makes radio contact with any crew who has been on scene for more than 10 minutes to request a status update. Marlinton Rescue Squad personnel participate in a variety of rescues, from the mundane nursing home transfer to assisting in the capture of hundreds of trout which were released from the State Fish Hatchery, and assisting law enforcement in seizures of large crops of marijuana. Not to mention shootings, stabbings, car accidents, cave rescues, cardiac arrests, and more...