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This weekend, Pinetown volunteer Rescue & Emergency Medical Service (EMS) will celebrate their 40th anniversary. 

The volunteer EMS, fire department and Sidney Dive Team have worked together for several decades ensuring residents are safe during the most vulnerable moments of their lives. 

“We all work together. Sometimes we train together, and share equipment as needed between the three groups and share members between the groups,” Pinetown Rescue & EMS Captain Butch Oliver said. Of those years, Captain Butch Oliver volunteered with the organization for 31 and has served as Captain for more than 20. 

In those 40 years, the groups have worked together to construct a building to house every group’s equipment and vehicles. That building is located on North Boyd Road in Pinetown. 

Prior to the building’s construction in 2000, the buildings were separated which meant quicker response times since more than half of the EMS roster is either also a volunteer firefighter or related to a volunteer firefighter, according to Oliver. 

Thanks to grants, donations, barbecue dinner fundraisers and funding from property taxes, Pinetown EMS works to replace their ambulance about every ten years and purchase new EMS trucks as well as equipment like drones. Those funding sources also help purchase equipment for the volunteer fire department. 

Last year, EMS secured a UTV and a trailer to assist with their drone rescue program. This allows people inside the trailer to watch drone footage on large screens and be able to drive into an area to rescue someone. For example, it was recently used to find a hunter who was injured in Plymouth, Oliver shared. 

A Beaufort County native, Oliver started as a volunteer firefighter with Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department shortly after graduating high school. At that time, the EMS department consisted of only women volunteers who needed assistance. Oliver took the Emergency Medical Training class and started volunteering for the EMS department. 

His most memorable stories were ones where he helped with the births of two babies and resuscitated someone back to life with CPR and a defibrillator after a car accident. 

It is his hope that Pinetown volunteer Rescue & EMS, Volunteer Fire Department and Sidney Dive Team celebrate more anniversaries. That young people, like himself 31 years ago, will be interested in serving and protecting their communities. 

On Saturday, Sept. 30, Pinetown EMS will host a celebration at their station for the community. Starting at 4 p.m., there will be equipment on display, games for kids, a ceremony at 5 p.m., hamburgers and hot dogs and a firework show at 7:30 p.m. The event is free to the public.