Our History

In the early years of pre-hospital emergency care, Rescue Squads provided a crucial role in the ground breaking of what would later be referred to as EMS (Emergency Medical Services). The Rescue Squads would respond to vehicle accident scenes & provide basic first-aid care to sick or injured patients while Ambulance Companies & Funeral Home Transport Services would transport the patients to area hospitals without the benefit of advanced medical training. The first chartered Rescue Squad in the state of Tennessee was the Johnson City Rescue Squad chartered on the 25th of August in 1949.

The 1970’s brought on further changes. Shortly after the first graduates & state certified EMT’s began treating & transporting patients at a BLS (Basic Life Support) level, the state signed the EMS Act of 1973 authorized ALS (Advanced Life Support) training to begin. This Act utilized the term EMT-Advanced to define the role of a Paramedic. The start of this modern EMS system made its way into Washington County & was formed in 1971 under the name The Ambulance Authority. The Ambulance Authority was based out of the former Memorial Hospital located on West Fairview Ave. in Downtown Johnson City. The Authority operated only 2 Ambulances with 4 EMT’s that responded to emergency calls throughout all of Washington County from a single station location. All emergency calls received came through via individual phone numbers assigned to EMS, Fire & Police departments. The Ambulance Authority operated & responded at this capacity for several years prior to the adaptation of the current 9-1-1 systems that we are accustomed today. The First group of Washington County Paramedics attended & graduated Paramedic training in 1979. These new Paramedics were now able to provide groundbreaking advanced pre-hospital emergency care. This training allowed EMS under a physician orders to start IV fluids, monitor EKG rhythms, provide defibrillation to unstable heart arrhythmias, administer oxygen & life saving medications to all types traumatic & medical emergencies. The first recorded “Save” (Return of heart function) in Washington County was performed from the Ambulance Authority Paramedics at a beauty shop in downtown Johnson City in 1979. This was new & exciting territory in pre-hospital emergency care, but we would soon find out that this was just the beging of great the advancements that EMS would provide to the people our communities.

While WC/JC EMS was the primary provider of emergency treatment & transport throughout Washington County a company titled S&S Ambulance headed by Sherrill Nelson a former Director of the Ambulance Authority also provided additional non-emergency / convalescent Ambulance services. As part of the process for acquiring a secure exclusive contract as the sole provider of EMS within Washington County, WC/JC EMS expanded our agency with the purchase of S&S Ambulance. This made a huge impact on the overall ability for EMS to provide enhanced emergent & non-emergent transport & coverage to all of the citizens of Washington County. Following suit was the merging of the county Rescue Squads. WC/JC EMS now was primed to become the elite EMS agency in the region. This allowed EMS to control the Ambulance & Rescue Divisions with a uniformed consistency in training, equipment, supplies, vehicles & personnel. The additional acquisitions now provided EMS/Rescue services to the towns & communities of Jonesborough, Limestone, South Central & Lamar. The Rescue Technicians of WC/JC EMS bring with them a vast array of technical skills. The RT’s are training in Advanced Vehicle Extrication, Swift Water Rescue, Dive Rescue / Recovery, Rope Rescue, Confined Space Rescue as well as perform a vast variety of Search & Rescue operations. These trained & skilled EMS & volunteer individuals provide a great service to the county & are the backbone of a well-trained & prepared service. The volunteer aspect of EMS is now restructured under the banner of Washington County Rescue Services.

At current date, WC/JC EMS now provides emergency medical & rescue services to all communities in Washington County with stations / unit assignments totaling 9 primary ALS Ambulances, 8 Rescue Units, 3 ALS Convalescent Ambulances & 5 BLS Convalescent Ambulances located at Medic-1 & Rescue-1 (Downtown Johnson City) Medic-2 & Rescue-2 (West Side Johnson City) Medic-3 & Rescue-3 (North Side Johnson City) Medic-4 & Rescue-4 (Gray) Medic-5 (Telford) Medic-6 (Boones Creek) Medic-7 (Veterans Administration Transport) Medic- 8 & Rescue-8 (Lamar) Medic-9 (Fall Branch) Medic-13 (Power Response Johnson City) Rescue-5 (Jonesborough) Rescue-7 (South Central) Rescue-10 (Limestone) & Med- 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 providing convalescent services & a new Rescue Station in the Sulphur Springs community opening the summer of 2012. EMS also operates its own dispatch center for convalescent operations. This dispatch center receives & dispatches non-emergent calls that are not handled through Washington County 9-1-1. As our communities grow & expand so will the training & operations of WC/JC EMS. We are proud to be a leader in EMS & are pleased to serve the citizens & visitors to all of Washington County. WC/JC EMS has experienced tremendous growth during its history. This has strengthened our response capabilities by increasing the number of available emergency units & decreasing response times. We are proud to be able to administer the most critical public safety service & pledge to give prompt, courteous & professional care to our citizens.