Brandon Area Rescue Squad emblem Brandon Area Rescue Squad Respond · React · Respect
Explore volunteer opportunities
Three Brandon Area Rescue Squad ambulances parked outside the squad's station on Franklin Street in Brandon, Vermont.

Volunteer with your local rescue squad

Help Your Neighbors. Learn Life-Saving Skills. Volunteer With Brandon Rescue.

Brandon Area Rescue Squad has answered calls in Brandon, Leicester, Goshen, and Sudbury for more than 55 years. We are always glad to talk with people in these towns who are thinking about stepping up — whether you are already certified or have never set foot in an ambulance.

Explore volunteer opportunities See how volunteering works

This is not a job application, and it is not an emergency line. It is a way to start a conversation. For emergencies, call 911.

Opportunities

There’s a place for you

There are two ways to volunteer with the squad. One is patient care, the other is driving. Neither one asks you to have it all figured out before you get in touch.

Pathway one

Volunteer EMS provider

Ride as part of the crew, caring for patients on emergency calls and non-emergency transports.

This is the patient-care role. To take part you need to be certified at a minimum of the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) level, and members 16 and 17 years old are welcome once they hold that certification. If you are not certified yet, tell us — explaining how people get there is a normal part of the first conversation.

What it asks of you

  • Age 16 or older, once certified at a minimum EMR level
  • Emergency response and non-emergency transport
  • Free continuing education to maintain your certification
  • Opportunities to help cover special events in the community

Pathway two

Ambulance driver · the VEFR pathway

Get the crew and the patient where they need to be. No prior medical experience required.

If you are an adult with a good driving record, this is the most common way to start with no experience at all. The training is the Vermont Emergency First Responder (VEFR) course — 16 hours, generally over one weekend. Vermont requires two licensed EMS providers on an ambulance, and the VEFR level is the certification that supports the driver role.

What it asks of you

  • Age 18 or older
  • A good driving record, and a background check
  • No prior EMS or medical experience needed to begin
  • 16-hour VEFR course, generally offered over one weekend

If neither list quite describes you, get in touch anyway. The requirements above are real, but the only way to find out where you fit is to talk to us. We will not pretend a requirement away, and we will not waste your time either.

How it works

Four steps, starting with a conversation

Nothing here is automatic and nothing is decided by a form. Here is what actually happens after you reach out.

  1. Tell us what interests you

    Fill in the form below with your name, how to reach you, and which parts of the squad you are curious about. A sentence or two is plenty.

  2. A Brandon Rescue representative follows up

    Someone from the squad gets in touch the way you asked to be contacted. A real person, not an automated sequence.

  3. Talk through training, requirements, and the right path

    We go over what each role actually asks of you, what the training involves and what it costs, and which pathway fits your situation. Ask us anything.

  4. Begin training and support your community

    If it is a fit on both sides, you start training with the squad behind you — and you begin helping your neighbors in the towns you live in.

We cannot promise how quickly someone will get back to you, and we cannot promise a place on the squad. What we can promise is a straight answer about what each role requires.

Who you would be joining

Over 55 years serving Brandon and surrounding communities

Brandon Area Rescue Squad has been part of this community since 1970. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, overseen by a volunteer board, and staffed by a mix of volunteer and paid EMS providers who work the same calls side by side.

When you volunteer here you are not joining a program run from somewhere else. You are joining your own town’s rescue squad — the one that answers when a neighbor calls 911, and the one that runs non-emergency transports for people who need a ride to an appointment they cannot otherwise get to.

  • 24/7 emergency response and non-emergency transport

    The squad covers both, around the clock, every day of the year.

  • Training support for members

    Continuing education is provided at no cost to members, so keeping your certification current does not come out of your own pocket.

  • Oversight by a volunteer board

    The squad is governed by a board of volunteers from the communities it serves.

  • Special-event coverage opportunities

    Members also have opportunities to help cover community events, which is a lower-pressure way to build experience.

Founded in 1970 · a 501(c)(3) nonprofit · volunteers and paid providers on the same crews.

The sign on the Brandon Area Rescue Squad station, reading Brandon Area Rescue Squad — serving our communities since 1970.
The station on Franklin Street in Brandon. Every photograph on this page is the squad’s own — we do not use stock ambulance photography.

Service area

Volunteer opportunities in Brandon, Leicester, Goshen, and Sudbury, Vermont

Our station is at 1338 Franklin Street in Brandon, Vermont 05733. These are the towns we answer for.

  • Brandon Station on Franklin Street
  • Leicester
  • Goshen
  • Sudbury

We also provide mutual-aid support throughout Rutland and Addison Counties when needed. If you live in a nearby town that is not on this list, you are still welcome to get in touch — tell us where you are and we will be honest about whether the travel works.

Not sure whether your address is in our area? Call our non-emergency line at (802) 247-3231 and ask.

Where the squad responds

Primary service area: Brandon, Leicester, Goshen, and Sudbury.

Mutual aid: Rutland County and Addison County, when called on.

Station: 1338 Franklin Street, Brandon, VT 05733.

Forest Dale is part of Brandon rather than a separate town.

Questions

Questions people ask before they get in touch

Every answer below is on the page in full — nothing here is hidden behind a click.

Do I need EMS experience to get started?

No. Plenty of people here started with no medical background at all. If you are an adult who meets the requirements, the ambulance driver pathway begins with a 16-hour course and does not ask for any prior experience.

To ride as an EMS provider you do need to be certified at a minimum of the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) level. If you are not there yet, that is a normal place to start the conversation — we can explain how members earn that certification and what it involves.

Can I volunteer if I am under 18?

If you are 16 or 17, you can take part as an EMS provider once you are certified at a minimum of the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) level. That is a real pathway, and we are glad to explain it.

The ambulance driver program is for applicants 18 and over. If you are under 18, please talk with a parent or guardian before you get in touch, so they know you have reached out to us.

What is the VEFR driver program?

Vermont Emergency First Responder (VEFR) is a 16-hour course, generally offered over a single weekend. Vermont requires two licensed EMS providers on an ambulance, and the VEFR level is the certification that supports the driver role on the crew.

To pursue the driver pathway with us you need to be 18 or older, have a good driving record, and pass a background check.

How much time does volunteering take?

It depends on the role and on what you can realistically offer. We would rather have that conversation with you than publish a number that turns out not to fit your life.

Tell us roughly what your week looks like when you get in touch, and we will be straight with you about whether it lines up with what the squad needs.

What happens after I reach out?

A Brandon Rescue representative follows up using the contact method you asked for. The first conversation is exactly that — a conversation about what interests you, what the requirements are, and which pathway makes sense.

We cannot promise how quickly someone will get back to you, and sending the form does not commit you to anything. If your plans change, just tell us.

Where does Brandon Rescue serve?

Our primary service area is Brandon, Leicester, Goshen, and Sudbury, operating from the station at 1338 Franklin Street in Brandon, Vermont 05733.

We also provide mutual-aid support throughout Rutland and Addison Counties when needed.

Is this a paid job?

No. This page is about volunteer opportunities, and the form on it is not a job application.

Brandon Area Rescue Squad is staffed by a mix of volunteer and paid EMS providers, so paid roles do exist here at times — but they are not offered or applied for through this page. If paid work is what you are asking about, email chief@brandonrescue.org or call our non-emergency line at (802) 247-3231 and ask directly.

Start a volunteer conversation

Tell us what interests you

Three required fields, and nothing you tell us commits you to anything. A Brandon Rescue representative will follow up.

Any format is fine.

What would you like to know more about? (optional — tick any that apply)

If you are 16 or 17, please let a parent or guardian know you are contacting us.

Your availability, questions, or anything you are unsure about.

We use what you send only to follow up with you about volunteering. We do not sell or share it. See our privacy policy for what we keep, who can see it, and how to ask us to delete it.

Would rather just talk to someone?

That is completely fine. The form is a convenience, not a requirement.

Call our non-emergency line at (802) 247-3231 or email chief@brandonrescue.org and say you are interested in volunteering.

For emergencies, call 911. The numbers on this page are not answered by dispatch.