{"id":8952,"date":"2025-05-10T16:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T20:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=8952"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:46:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:46:01","slug":"goldsboro-rescue-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/goldsboro-rescue-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8953\" src=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-10-grs-banner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-10-grs-banner.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-10-grs-banner-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-05-10-grs-banner-730x411.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Presenting a timeline of rescue history in Goldsboro, surrounding communities, and Wayne County.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legeros.com\/history\/ems\/goldsboro\/research-notes.pdf\">Read detailed research notes<\/a> (pdf)<\/p>\n<p>View newspaper clippings in <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1cQic_1oBD3-usmS1UC9GaXhe8KB27_Af?usp=drive_link\">Google Drive folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Short Version<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1950 to 1969<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1952 \u2013 After two years of trying to sell the idea of a rescue squad to local civic clubs, fire chief found interest at local Lion&#8217;s Club.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1953, Mar 18 \u2013 GFD placed first rescue truck in service, donated by Lion\u2019s Club. Staffed by fire department. Panel van.<\/li>\n<li>1953, Nov 17 \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad first organizational meeting, second project of the Lion&#8217;s Club.<\/li>\n<li>1954, Apr \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad operating by this time, members assist GFD rescue unit at incidents and events.<\/li>\n<li>1955, Nov 29 \u2013 Second GFD rescue vehicle added, soon moved to new Station 2. Station wagon.<\/li>\n<li>1958, Feb 8 \u2013 Third GFD (GFD\/GRS?) rescue unit being readied, a 1947 Cadillac Ambulance.<\/li>\n<li>1958, Aug \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad added a bloodhound for land searches .\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1958, Sep \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad hosted second annual convention of North Carolina Association of Rescue Squads. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1958, Sep \u2013 Ladies auxiliary of Goldsboro Rescue Squad organized during the state meeting. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1958, Oct \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad added first female members, five nurses installed as members. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1959, Jan \u2013 <strong>Mount Olive Rescue Squad<\/strong> now operating. Organized over last six months.<\/li>\n<li>1959, Aug \u2013 New GFD (GFD\/GRS?) delivered, panel truck to replace station wagon.\u00a0 <strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1960 to 1969<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1961, Aug 20 \u2013 GRS building dedicated. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1961, Dec 31 \u2013 Snapshot. Goldsboro Rescue Squad answered 865 calls during the year. They transported 388 people from 381 accident scenes. They transported 280 people suffering from \u201csudden illnesses.\u201d They answered 63 false alarms. They spent 500 hours searching for \u201clost persons.\u201d \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1962 \u2013 Mount Olive Civil Defense building completed. Housed rescue squad.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1963, Feb \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad delivered first baby.<\/li>\n<li>1964, Apr \u2013 <strong>Fremont Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1965, Oct \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad hosted state rescue convention. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1967, May \u2013 FRS rescue building on Sycamore Street dedicated.<\/li>\n<li>1968, Oct \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad hosted state rescue convention.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1969, Apr \u2013 <strong>Wayne Ambulance Service<\/strong> started operation on April 14, 1969. Also, Goldsboro Rescue Squad no longer answering non-emergency calls.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1970 to 1979<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1972 &#8211; Goldsboro Rescue Squad, Inc. chartered with the state.<\/li>\n<li>1972 \u2013 First radios acquired for GRS.<\/li>\n<li>1975, Feb \u2013 Mount Olive Rescue Squad new building nearing completion.<\/li>\n<li>1975, Sep \u2013 <strong>Grantham Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1975, Oct 1 &#8211; <strong>Mount Olive Rescue Squad<\/strong> reorganized. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1976 \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad member James Hickman drowned while helping with a rescue attempt. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1976 \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad member Kenneth Lee Davis killed when a car hit a squad ambulance that was returning from a call. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1976 \u2013 <strong>Seven Springs Rescue Squad<\/strong> organized.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1978 \u2013 Grantham Rescue Squad moved into a new building.<\/li>\n<li>1979 \u2013 MORS started heavy rescue services, received first crash truck.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1980 to 1989<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1980 \u2013 Grantham Rescue Squad moved into a newly constructed building.<\/li>\n<li>1981, May \u2013 By this time, <strong>Johnston County Ambulance Service<\/strong> also available for non-emergency transport.<\/li>\n<li>1982 \u2013 SSARS started providing ALS services.<\/li>\n<li>1985 \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad certified as an advanced life support rescue squad.<\/li>\n<li>1985, Mar \u2013 MORS certified at EMT-I level.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1985, May \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad added first paid staff about this time.<\/li>\n<li>1989, Apr 20 \u2013 Goldsboro Rescue Squad name changed to Goldsboro Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, Inc.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1989, Sep \u2013 GFD started operating their own EMS service with dedicated medics on September 6, 1989. GFD ambulances had been operating for decades.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>1990 to 1999<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1992 &#8211; All squads equipped with defibrillators by this time.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1994, Oct \u2013 <strong>Better Health Ambulance<\/strong> of Greenville had been granted an ambulance franchise by county commissioners. Second private service operating in the county.<\/li>\n<li>1995, Dec &#8211; Snapshot. Fremont and Grantham have EMT-D service, Goldsboro, Mount Olive, and Seven Springs have EMT-I service.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1997 \u2013 County study conducted, found problems with EMS response times.<\/li>\n<li>1999, Jan \u2013 MORS reorganized, after the squad was disbanded by town officials, after a dispute started in December, when the town fired a paid member for violating labor laws.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>1999, Oct \u2013 Wayne Memorial Hospital ceased providing free medical supplies to the rescue squads. This increased the operational costs for each squad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2000 to 2009\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2000, Oct \u2013 GREMS placed new crash truck in service. It supported eleven fire departments, which only had three crash trucks between them: Arrington, Belfast, Dudley, Elroy, Mar Mac, New Hope, Oakland, Patetown, Pinewood, Rosewood, and Saulston. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2001 \u2013 GREMS advanced to paramedic level.<\/li>\n<li>2001, May \u2013 Newspaper reports that county officials had been studying a proposal to assume control of the volunteer rescue squads, and primarily to improve response times and the quality of medical care. Suggested is creation of a county-wide EMS system and with a goal to have a paramedic on the first ambulance to respond to calls. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2001, Aug \u2013 County officials decided to start charging for ambulance transports. Squads currently charging included Goldsboro and Mount Olive.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2002, March 1 \u2013 Wayne County EMS placed in service with the opening of their first station in Seven Springs.<\/li>\n<li>2002, Oct 1 \u2013 WCEMS Station 2 opened Rosewood.<\/li>\n<li>2002, Oct 1 \u2013 WCEMS Station 3 opened in Grantham, at the rescue squad building.<\/li>\n<li>2002, Oct 1 \u2013 WCEMS Station 4, Station 5, and Station 6 opened in Goldsboro.<\/li>\n<li>2002-03 circa &#8211; GREMS disbanded after WCEMS took over service area (correct timeframe?).<\/li>\n<li>2003, Mar \u2013 WCEMS Station 7 opened in Fremont.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2003, Jun \u2013 MORS ceased providing rescue services. One crash truck disposed to Mount Olive VFD.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>2003, July \u2013 WCEMS Station 8 opened in Dudley.<\/li>\n<li>2003, Oct \u2013 WCEMS Station 9 opened in Mount Olive on October 1, 2003.<\/li>\n<li>2006, Aug \u2013 WayneNET ambulance service started operating. Non-emergency transport.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2010 to Present<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2016, Oct \u2013 Seven Springs EMS station\u2014co-located with Seven Springs Area Rescue Squad\u2014building damaged by flood from Hurricane Matthew. WCEMS unit relocated to Elroy VFD Station 2.<\/li>\n<li>2018, Oct \u2013 Seven Springs Area Rescue Squad dissolved.<\/li>\n<li>2018, Apr \u2013 Expansion WCEMS Station 10 opened on April 19, 2018, in the former quarters of Antioch VFD.<\/li>\n<li>2019, spring \u2013 Replacement WCEMS Station 1 on March 2, 2019, at 4205 Indian Springs Road in Seven Springs.<\/li>\n<li>2019, spring \u2013 Replacement WCEMS Station 7 opened at 1900 Nahunta Road in Pikeville.<\/li>\n<li>2019, Jun \u2013 Replacement WCEMS Station 9 opened on June 21, 2019, at 121 Northeast Church Road in Mount Olive.<\/li>\n<li>2019, Sep \u2013 Expansion WCEMS Station 11 opened on September 13, 2019, at 210 Miller\u2019s Chapel Road in Goldsboro.<\/li>\n<li>2021 \u2013 Grantham Rescue Squad disbanded after WCEMS took over service area.<\/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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F&text=Goldsboro+and+Wayne+County+Rescue+and+EMS+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F&description=Goldsboro+and+Wayne+County+Rescue+and+EMS+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=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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 a timeline of rescue history in Goldsboro, surrounding communities, and Wayne County.\u00a0 Read detailed research notes (pdf) View newspaper clippings in Google Drive folder. Short Version 1950 to 1969 1952 \u2013 After two years of trying to sell the idea of a rescue squad to local civic clubs, fire chief found interest at local &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/goldsboro-rescue-history\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F\" data-main-href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u={url}\" data-nid=\"1\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F&text=Goldsboro+and+Wayne+County+Rescue+and+EMS+History\" data-main-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url={url}&text={title}\" data-nid=\"2\" data-name=\"\" data-pid=\"1\" data-post-id=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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%2Fgoldsboro-rescue-history%2F&description=Goldsboro+and+Wayne+County+Rescue+and+EMS+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=\"8952\" data-url=\"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-description=\"Goldsboro and Wayne County Rescue and EMS 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":[16,3,11,24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8952"}],"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=8952"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9775,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8952\/revisions\/9775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}