Since 1959 Harrisburg River Rescue has sought to educate the citizens of Harrisburg about water safety and provide water rescue services. The establishment of the volunteer organization was stimulated by a series of incidents in 1957 in which seventeen people lost their lives in the Susquehanna River. In August of 1958 a group of river enthusiasts, who had been becoming more and more concerned wit
h the rising number of incidents, met to discuss ways to bring awareness to the dangers of the river and how to assist boaters in distress. On February 2, 1959, at its second meeting the group established their name as River Rescue. In 1960 the organization was officially chartered and incorporated as Pennsylvania’s first water search and rescue organization. Headquartered at the Harrisburg Seaplane Base at South Front Street in Wormleysburg, River Rescue undertook the responsibility of monitoring the safety of swimmers and boaters in the Harrisburg Area. Members, using their own equipment, patrolled the river and towed disabled boats. In 1960, a sixteen year old boy named George Richard Oxley lost his life while attempting to rescue another boy at the Dock Street Dam. As a result of the incident, River Rescue added a water safety education and training program to its water rescue operations. Within a few years the organization distinguished itself as a premier training organization for rescue personnel. In 1962 the training was put to a test as River Rescue was called to help with the infamous “Baseball Special Train Wreck”. A train heading eastbound from Harrisburg to Philadelphia derailed in Steelton on July 28, 1962. The train was carrying passengers to a baseball game between the Phillies and the Pittsburg Pirates. A few minutes after leaving the Harrisburg station, the last three cars of the train broke loose due to an insecure track. The train cars knocked down three poles that supported high voltage power lines and plummeted down a 40 foot embankment into the Susquehanna River. Nineteen people were killed and more than 100 people were injured. At the time it was the worst rail disaster in Pennsylvania history. During the same year, River Rescue, which had outgrown its space at the Harrisburg Seaplane Base, moved to the upper floor of the bathhouse on City Island. The City gave their permission to use the boat ramp, and dock space was provided for rescue equipment. In September, City Council designated the organization as an “official volunteer city function” with auxiliary police powers. With these new powers, the organization acquired the official support of the City in its river safety warnings and efforts. Also that year, the Ladies Auxiliary was chartered with the organizational purpose to “Raise money to buy equipment; serve food to the men while out on a call; and to offer radio communications when requested.”
By 1968 the organization had outgrown various definitions of its charter and it was re-chartered as a non-profit organization allowing federal tax exemption. River Rescue also became a member of the organization known as the “Dauphin County Mutual Aid Ambulance and Rescue Association”. In May of 1970, River Rescue began providing emergency ambulance service to the City of Harrisburg as a back up unit called the River Rescue Ambulance Association. The organization had a second hand ambulance that was used to meet the emergency needs of its member and it purchased another one in 1971. When other ambulance services went out of business and the city’s ambulance was damaged beyond repair, River Rescue became the sole ambulance provider in the Harrisburg area. The association consisted of paid and volunteer personnel and it was a non-profit organization offering continual emergency ambulance transportation. Because of increasing services to the city, the growing membership of the organization, and an increase in equipment and apparatus, River Rescue once again needed larger space for its headquarters. In 1970 the Harrisburg Fire Department discontinued the use of the Royal Firehouse at 21st and Derry Streets, and gave River Rescue permission to use the building as its headquarters. However, the space would only be temporary because the building was “prohibitive” for occupancy. The temporary headquarters was used until 1978 when city safety inspectors finally gave notice to River Rescue to vacate the building as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary accidents or injury. The organization faced its biggest challenge in the summer of 1972. In June, a rare early season hurricane made its way up the Mid-Atlantic Region from Florida. In Pennsylvania, Hurricane Agnes dumped nearly eighteen inches of rain causing massive flooding and fires that destroyed 68,000 homes and 3,000 businesses, and it left 220,000 Pennsylvanians homeless. In Harrisburg, the Susquehanna River swelled from its normal height of four feet to 32.57 feet with a water flow of 1,020,000 cubic feet per second. River Rescue rescued people from inundated homes, aided police officers in patrolling, and aided the fire department in fighting a fire which razed nine homes and could only be accessed by boats. River Rescue itself lost $118,000.00 worth of its special rescue equipment, including emergency trucks, three large boats with cranes, one floating headquarters, the shop and all of its docks. The organization received the Outstanding Service Certificate Award from the National Water Safety Congress in Washington, D.C. and a citation called “Operation Comeback” from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for its outstanding work during the flood. The organization was able to replace all the lost equipment and to purchase additional equipment through city, state, and federal grants and loans, as well as donations from the public. In the preceding years River Rescue was called upon nationally to assist with flooding caused by Hurricane Eloise in Florida in 1975, the flooding of Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1977, and it was on standby to assist with flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In May 1978 River Rescue move into a newly renovated 18,000 square foot facility. After nineteen years of being scattered over several locations, making it difficult to operate efficiently, the organization finally had a permanent home. The building located at Cameron and Sycamore Streets in Harrisburg, previously an Acme grocery store, was purchased for $165,000. Consisting of a social hall (capable of seating 350 people), four executive offices, one business office, a small meeting room, two bunk rooms, a lounge and kitchen for the ambulance crews, a communications center, a photo lab, a large shop, and a garage with seven bays, the building and property covered over three and one-half acres. Since the spring of 1987, River Rescue, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boating Commission, has conducted an annual Water Rescue and Emergency Response training workshop. The program has trained and certified over 1500 police, fire, and rescue personnel nationally. It was instrumental in forming water rescue teams in the Wilkes-Barre, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh areas. The River Rescue Water Safety and Training Division is known and recognized throughout the country as one of the few professional, volunteer training organizations. In January of 1991, River Rescue of Harrisburg, Inc. was re-organized into two divisions: the Water Safety and Training Division, and the Capital Region Emergency Medical Services. The Capital Region Emergency Medical Services division employed professional EMS Technicians to provide services to the Harrisburg area, although the River Rescue of Harrisburg, Inc. Both division remained non-profit organizations. In 1998 the organization officially changed its name to Life Team River Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, and the River Rescue and Emergency Services Relief Association was founded in order to expand the funding capabilities of the Water Safety and Training Division.
