To the editor:

The Nansemond-Suffolk Rescue Squad consistently has delivered outstanding pre-hospital emergency medical care to residents and visitors of this community for some 53 years.

During this period, ambulance-based personnel progressed through basic first aid to emergency medical technician and various advanced life support state certifications (shock-trauma, cardiac technician and National Registry paramedic) requiring hundreds of hours of dedicated practical training.

The latest rescue proposals, if enacted, would relegate NSVRS to secondary status, resulting in insufficient calls to maintain requisite ALS proficiency.

It is inconceivable that the City of Suffolk would consider any action that permits such highly valuable medical skills possessed by trained and certified volunteers to atrophy, rather than incorporate NSVRS as an integral component of the EMS delivery system serving the City of Suffolk.

Utilizing human and fiscal resources effectively is a function of responsible government.

Kent J. Weber

Suffolk