Each year Bedford County Fire and Rescue honors the men and women who serve in EMS and fire with outstanding levels of dedication and performance. The awards ceremony was held in April and the Bedford Life Saving Crew is proud to have several of its members as awards recipients.

Volunteer EMS providers face the daily challenge of balancing their careers, family life and EMT duties. Each member of Squad 1 makes a commitment as an Associate Member for 24 hours of service a month or as a Full Member with 48 hours. When a member is an officer, which is Full Membership, their duty time can easily be doubled, tripled and more with those extra responsibilities. Shannon Walker joined the crew in June of 2003 and has worked his way up from EMT-Basic to EMT-Intermediate care level. His peers recognized in him strong leadership skills and he was voted in as an officer and is currently 1^st Lieutenant of the crew. Even when not on scheduled duty, Shannon helps out by running extra calls with exceptional patient care skills. He was nominated by fellow crew members and won Rescue Squad Member of the Year for Bedford Life Saving Crew.

As a volunteer, Lynch Manley has been serving the Bedford community since 1964. His dedication, expertise and willingness to make EMS one of his top priorities in life has benefited countless persons in medical and traumatic distress. He has held numerous positions during his volunteer career and is an outstanding leader as an Emergency Vehicle Operator and compassionate voice in patient care. He received the Highest Response Record of the Year Award for the Bedford Life Saving Crew.

The veterans of Bedford Life Saving Crew have set the standard for excellence in patient care through their performance. Their heritage sets the stage for a new generation of providers. One future provider, Marc Bailey, joined Squad 1 in October of 2007 as a Junior member. In that capacity he runs as an observer with the crew and can assist in non-patient care roles. He takes great initiative to learn from the real-life scenarios he sees. Marc is an EMT student at the Bedford Science & Technology Center and a member of the Health Occupations Students of America team that won Virginia State competition and will be going to nationals later this year. Marc received the Student of the Year Award for the Bedford Life Saving Crew.

The Bedford Life Saving Crew is thankful to Lynch, Shannon and Marc and we congratulate them on receiving the recognition they have earned.