Annandale Resident Making a Difference on Virginia Tech Rescue Squad

Annandale resident Stephanie Vece just completed her first year as a member of the oldest student-run volunteer emergency medical service in the nation.

An alumna of class of 2008, Vece is one of over 40 students on the award-winning Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, an all-volunteer squad. She serves as an emergency medical technician for the campus community, doing everything from splinting broken limbs and running medical emergencies to stabilizing patients while they are en route to a medical facility.

Squad members commit to at least 20 hours per week of service, but Vece admits most of the team takes on extra duty. “I’ve pulled a lot of late nights,” said Vece, “But the squad is like a big family so it doesn’t always feel like work.”  All squad members are responsible for one all-night shift each week along with regular hours. This volunteer time comes in addition to Vece’s full course load as she enters her senior year and holds a part-time job analyzing DNA on campus.

While the demands are high, Vece’s experience on the squad has convinced her that her future lies in emergency medicine. She is applying for a post-graduate physician’s assistant program and knows her training and hands-on experience will be invaluable to her in reaching that goal.

“Being on the squad has given me a push and showed me what I want to do, which is to specialize in emergency trauma,” Vece said.

Squad members receive extensive first aid and medical training to prepare them for the situations they will face. Over the last semester, Vece also took on the responsibility of helping new squad trainees through their probationary period in a role called “Probate Parent,” an honor she was selected for over other squad applicants.

“[We] help the trainees through their training period which includes mastering their basic EMT classes, and passing their required tests and evaluations,” Vece said. She hopes to be selected as a team leader for next semester, which carries with it additional responsibility and training requirements.

Established in 1969, the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad is the main emergency medical team for the campus community, responding 24/7 to 911 calls and serving students, faculty and staff and campus visitors. The organization maintains three advanced life support ambulances and a first response vehicle along with in-station crews at no cost to the university. The agency relies heavily on private donations to support its mission.

While at Woodson, Vece was named all four years to the national honor society and won a Dolphin Scholarship for children of the U.S. Navy submarine force, a four-year award based on academic achievement which provides a significant portion of her tuition costs at Tech.  

“The thing that keeps me going is personal interaction. I will never forgot running my first call as a probate. We were treating a man having a seizure and when he recovered, he turned to me, grabbed my hand and said 'thank you. I’ll never forget you.’ I have never felt like my life impacted other people before that moment," Vece said when asked why she volunteers for the position.

If Vece is ever unsure of her impact, she only has to look at her fellow rescue squad members. When asking the probate class their motivation for joining the squad, one young woman said that Vece, who had treated her months earlier for a head injury, was her motivation. “This has been an eye-opening experience,” said Vece.