{"id":8822,"date":"2025-04-13T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T11:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=8822"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:22:10","slug":"forsyth-ambulance-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/forsyth-ambulance-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8830\" src=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-04-13-forsyth-banner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-04-13-forsyth-banner.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-04-13-forsyth-banner-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-04-13-forsyth-banner-730x526.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Presenting research notes on ambulance, rescue, and EMS history in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.<\/p>\n<p>See <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1s2SaC61BRkFYrBcznkG-mVlEpiR8IYdk?usp=sharing\">Google drive of source articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>See <a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/history\/ems\/forsyth\/\">web page with assorted research notes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>1930 to 1949<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1937 \u2013 <strong>Winston-Salem Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized. First rescue squad in the state. They performed rescue functions but no transport services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1950 to 1959<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1958 &#8211; <strong>Winston-Salem Light Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized. Operated from May 1, 1958, until 1959 or abouts.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1958 &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Mount Tabor Light Rescue Squad\u00a0<\/strong>organized. They operated until 1960 or abouts.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1959 &#8211; City-county <strong>Civil Defense Rescue Service<\/strong> started. Rescue trucks placed at Lewisville VFD (1959) and Beeson Crossroads VFD (1960).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1959 &#8211; <strong>Forsyth Rescue Squad <\/strong>organized. Added ambulances in later decade.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1959 &#8211;\u00a0<strong>King Rescue Squad<\/strong> operating by this time. [WSJ, 8\/14\/59]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1960 to 1969<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1962 &#8211; <strong>Air King Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized in Winston-Salem. Operated ambulance.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1965 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad erected their first squad building.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1968 &#8211; County notified that the city&#8217;s black-owned funeral homes were stopping ambulance services.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1968 &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Forsyth County Ambulance Service <\/strong>started operation.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1968 &#8211; County ambulance added at Kernersville.<\/li>\n<li>1969 &#8211; County ambulance removed from Kernersville, due to lack of calls.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1970 to 1979<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1973 &#8211; <strong>Black Panther People&#8217;s Free Ambulance Service<\/strong> organized in Winston-Salem, also called Joseph Waddell People&#8217;s Free Ambulance Service. Operated until 1977.<\/li>\n<li>1973 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad added first modular-type ambulance in the county.<\/li>\n<li>1973 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad began participating in the countywide &#8220;nearest ambulance&#8221; auto-aid program.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1974 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad added first Hurst tool in the area.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1974 &#8211; County ambulance service relocated from airport to Reynolds Memorial Hospital.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1976 &#8211; County ambulance service started paramedic program.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1977 &#8211; Air King Rescue Squad ceased operations.<\/li>\n<li>1979 &#8211; WSFD fire medic program underway by this time. At least two trained EMTs are assigned to each shift at each fire station.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1978 &#8211; <strong>Forsyth County Water Rescue Team<\/strong> organized.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1979 &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Kernersville Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Plus fire department rescue squads that started operating during the decade:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Belews Creek<\/li>\n<li>Clemmons\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Gumtree\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Horneytown<\/li>\n<li>Mineral Springs<\/li>\n<li>Mount Tabor<\/li>\n<li>Old Richmond\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Piney Grove\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Rural Hall\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Vienna\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Walkertown\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These squads operated into the 1990s and some even later.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>1980 to 1999<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1980 &#8211;\u00a0<strong>Southeast Winston Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized by former members of Air King Rescue Squad.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1984 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad assumed field duties of county water rescue team.<\/li>\n<li>1985 &#8211; <strong>Union Cross VFD Rescue Squad\u00a0<\/strong>operating by this time. [WSJ, 10\/31\/85]<\/li>\n<li>1990 &#8211; County EMS relocated from Reynolds Health Center to new building at East Fifth Street.<\/li>\n<li>1998 &#8211; <strong>North Carolina Strike Force 1<\/strong> organized, with Forsyth Rescue Squad and Thomasville Rescue Squad. Predecessor to USAR task force teams.<\/li>\n<li>1999 &#8211; WSFD started first responder services in the city.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2000 to Present<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2000? &#8211; Southeast Winston Rescue Squad ceased operations.<\/li>\n<li>2003 &#8211; Forsyth Rescue Squad ceased operation.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2005 \u2013 By this time, <strong>NuCare Carolina Ambulance<\/strong> (1999) and <strong>Cavalry Medical Transport<\/strong> (2000) had county contracts for non-emergency transport and could also back up county EMS. The contract with Cavalry was cancelled in 2007. NuCare ended business around 2021\/22.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2008 &#8211; Kernersville Rescue Squad ceased operation in Forsyth County.<\/li>\n<li>2008 &#8211; <strong>Carolina Rescue and Emergency Medical Transport, Inc<\/strong>. created, new name for Kernersville Rescue Squad corporation.<\/li>\n<li>2009 &#8211; <strong>LifeStar Emergency Services<\/strong> awarded two-year county franchise for non-emergency transport services.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2025 &#8211; Snapshot. Current non-emergency providers were LifeStar, <strong>Providence Transportation<\/strong> (Lexington), and\u00a0<strong>MedEx Medical Transport<\/strong> (regional provider).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F&text=Winston-Salem+and+Forsyth+County+Ambulance+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F&description=Winston-Salem+and+Forsyth+County+Ambulance+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Presenting research notes on ambulance, rescue, and EMS history in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. See Google drive of source articles. See web page with assorted research notes.\u00a0 1930 to 1949 1937 \u2013 Winston-Salem Rescue Squad organized. First rescue squad in the state. They performed rescue functions but no transport services. 1950 to 1959 1958 &#8211; &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/forsyth-ambulance-history\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-animation=\"no-animation\" data-icons-animation=\"no-animation\" data-overlay=\"on\" data-change-size=\"\" data-button-size=\"0.7\" style=\"font-size:0.7em!important;display:none;\" class=\"supsystic-social-sharing supsystic-social-sharing-package-flat supsystic-social-sharing-content supsystic-social-sharing-content-align-left\" data-text=\"\"><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-facebook\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F&text=Winston-Salem+and+Forsyth+County+Ambulance+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-twitter\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><a data-networks=\"[]\" class=\"social-sharing-button sharer-flat sharer-flat-8 counter-standard without-counter pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Pinterest\" href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flegeros.com%2Fblog%2Fforsyth-ambulance-history%2F&description=Winston-Salem+and+Forsyth+County+Ambulance+and+Rescue+History\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url={url}&description={title}\" data-nid=\"7\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8822\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-mailto=\"\"><i class=\"fa-ssbs fa-ssbs-fw fa-ssbs-pinterest\"><span>Share<\/span><\/i><div class=\"counter-wrap standard\"><span class=\"counter\">0<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3,24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8822"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9790,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822\/revisions\/9790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}