Steve Davis left Giles County to work in Northern Virginia, but after four years, he returned -- not only to his home county, but also to the Giles Life Saving and Rescue Squad, where he decided it was time to give back to the community that had supported him.

"I was making my living in the insurance business from the people here," said Davis, who served as captain of the squad for 27 years and now serves as its public information officer. "I depended on the community, and I felt like if they were good enough to support me and my family, I should do something to give back. I did that through the rescue squad because it's a way of life I enjoy."

Helping those who need help the most has been a family affair for Davis and his relatives. His father served in the squad beginning in 1957, and his brother, sister-in-law, wife, sons, daughter and daughters-in-law all serve now. However, Davis said seeing an entire family of rescue volunteers is not uncommon in Giles County.

"It's true of a lot of families around here," Davis said. "Volunteering services back to your neighbors gets to be a way of life -- you just don't know anything different."

Being a squad member requires a strong support unit at home, Davis said, but it also means one has another family within the group.

"It's true of any rescue squad in the area, I think," he said. "We consider ourselves family even though we aren't all kin. If you're going to pick on us individually, we'll rally around that person, back them up and provide them with support."

The squad, which has about 30 active volunteer members, is under some of the strongest leadership it has ever had, Davis said.

"I think the potential from the young officers in charge now is stronger than people in the region realize," he said. "I don't see any situation requiring rescue squad intervention these young folks will not be able to handle because of their education, training and experience."

Those situations include anything from routine pre-hospital emergency calls to vehicle wreck, cave, mountain and water rescues from the Maybrook Bridge to the West Virginia, Pulaski and Bland County lines, serving about 15,000 people in about 300 square miles. The squad does not provide ambulance transport services. Squad members do, however, respond to emergencies outside their jurisdiction if requested -- the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech are a recent example.

Rob Logan, executive director of the Western Virginia Emergency Medical Services Council, a planning and support group for Virginia EMS, agrees that the Giles squad is well-equipped and well-staffed.

"The Giles squad is an old, established agency in the region that has certainly provided good, sound service to their community for years," Logan said. "They have a good partnership with Carilion, and there are families -- such as the Davis family -- who have been involved for a long time. They held their own through the years and given a great asset to their community."

Cave rescues are among the most difficult kind the group has performed, Davis said.

"We call a cave rescue an extended rescue because it will normally take at least 12 hours, or as much as three days," he said. "Movement in a cave is a lot more confined -- sometimes you literally lay on your back and scoot the stretcher over your head to the next person."

Davis said no one rescue stands out more than any other, though.

"Every call we answer, that's our primary focus at that point in time," he said.

The squad is based at Wenonah Avenue in Pearisburg, next to the Pearisburg Square Shopping Center. Most members carry radios and respond from their homes, though some members stay at the station in the evenings; regardless, the squad is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The squad recently purchased emergency rescue boats, with help from a federal grant from rural development and assistance from Giles County, which are safer for crew members to use in rescue efforts.

"The safety of our own people is paramount," Davis said. "If you come out to help us and get hurt, you become part of the problem at that point."

The squad's primary sources of funding are from Giles County, the Giles County United Fund, donations and through cost recovery. Though the group bills private insurances, Medicare, Medicaid and individuals for equipment and supply cost recovery, it does not aggressively pursue collection from individuals.

Innovation is prevalent within the squad, and members have been known to create custom equipment, such as a basket carrier for mountain rescues.

"We took the idea of a deer carrier that hunters use and that of a boat trailer and put them together to be pulled by an ATV," Davis said.

The creation is still in use, and Davis said such devices are now available commercially for a high price, though the commercial product does not work as well as the Giles-made invention.

The squad responds to about 100 calls each month and is accepting members. The application process includes a background check, and EMT-certified personnel are preferred. Those who are not EMT-certified may not be able to respond to calls for up to a year until they become qualified, but those people can become members and participate in other training courses.

The squad was formed in 1945 with the help of the Celanese Acetate plant in Narrows, which donated money for the group's first ambulance, a converted truck. Now, opportunities for career advancement, even into a paying career, are greater than ever with the training the squad can provide, Davis said.

"If you come into it looking for accolades and for people to pat you on the back, you are in the wrong place," Davis said. "The most important thing for us is to help somebody who can't help themselves and just to have that person say 'thank you' -- it means more than any of the awards we can get."