
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994                   TAG: 9410170028
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-10   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST
DATELINE: MCCOY                                LENGTH: Medium

`CALL OF THE YEAR' AWARD GOES TO LONGSHOP-MCCOY RESCUE SQUAD

The Longshop-McCoy Rescue Squad has won the "Call of the Year" award in a recent statewide competition sponsored by the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads. "This is a first for us," said Wanda Morehead, the crew's first lieutenant and the attendant in charge of the call the crew submitted. "This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to us."

Morehead and some of her rescue squad colleagues were among more than 2,000 rescue squad members from across the state attending the association's 60th annual convention Oct. 1-2 in Virginia Beach where entries were judged and the trophy awarded.

The crew had to submit a written description of how it handled a rescue call. Among other factors, teams were judged on the content of the call and how they followed certain protocols.

For their entry, the Longshop-McCoy crew described the occasion a year ago when squad members responded to a call to assist a Blacksburg man, Lee Eddington, who had suffered a severe anaphylactic - or allergic - reaction to a bee sting. The victim, who recovered, recently got to see the trophy the team won for its efforts.

Morehead, a rescue squad volunteer for 11 years, said she's judged similar competitions in the past.

The Longshop-McCoy Rescue Squad was formed 30 years ago. It has 18 regular volunteer members. Johnson Reynolds is the crew captain.

Morehead also reported that the Blacksburg Rescue Squad's dive team placed second in in the state in a hands-on competition during the convention.

by CNB