The Rescue Squad in a Nutshell

Whenever lives are at stake, Maryland’s volunteer squad of young citizens roars to the rescue, ready for any emergency.

–Coronet magazine, 1949

Founded in 1937 as the Chevy Chase First Aid Corps, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad is a community-supported non-profit organization that provides no-charge, professional fire, rescue, and emergency medical services to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Maryland area, as well as Upper Northwest Washington, D.C. The spirit, commitment, dedication, and operational skills of its members are the defining characteristics of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. The Squad provides the community with the security and peace of mind that comes with emergency services that are among the best in the United States.

To volunteer, visit www.bccrs.org/join, call 301-657-5557, or send an email to membership@bccrs.org. Volunteers stand duty one night a week at the station. No experience is needed, and volunteers receive free, professional training, leading to state certification as EMTs, Firefighters, or Paramedics.

The Rescue Squad responds to emergencies 24 hours a day.  The Squad’s 150 professionally trained volunteers respond to incidents during regularly scheduled evening, night, and weekend duty shifts. Our 13 paid personnel, a group of daytime volunteers, and two Montgomery County Paramedics staff our emergency vehicles on weekdays.

The Rescue Squad’s seven ambulance/medic units respond to calls in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Upper Northwest Washington, and Friendship Heights, as well as Glen Echo and parts of Cabin John, Potomac, North Bethesda, Kensington, and Rockville. (Medic units respond to the District of Columbia on request from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.)  Click here for a map of our service area and more information on our response system.  The Squad’s two heavy rescue squads respond to vehicle collisions, house and building fires, Metro train incidents, swift-water rescues, high-angle rescues, fire alarms, stuck elevators, gas leaks, and other emergencies requiring specialized rescue techniques.  Read more about our services.

We depend on you for our funding.  The Rescue Squad does not receive regular budgeted funds from any government. Instead, the Squad raises almost all of its $2 million operating budget from individual individual donors, foundations, businesses, and occasional state and federal grants. The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad is registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and contributions to the Squad are tax-deductible as allowable by law.  Click here for more information. 

Come visit the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad the first Saturday in October for our annual "Rescue Day" Open House, held in conjunction with the Taste of Bethesda, the outdoor food festival held just two blocks away in Bethesda's restaurant district.

Click here for a fact sheet on the Rescue Squad.

February 18, 2009