By John Beasley, Unit Director, Benton County Rescue Squad
Camden, tenn.–David Tuck of the Benton County Rescue Squad was elected President of the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads (TARS) at the 2021 TARS Annual Convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on Saturday, October 9th.
Tuck has served two terms as State Vice President and three terms as Region IV Vice President, and he has been a member of the Benton County Rescue Squad for 26 years. Tuck has been active at the state level as a certified TARS training instructor. In addition to serving TARS and Benton County Rescue, Tuck has served as Chief of the Eva-Rushing Creek Volunteer Fire Department since 2009.
After being elected President Tuck said, “I will continue my mission of increasing membership in TARS to provide quality rescue training to fire, rescue, and emergency medical service organizations across Tennessee through the TARS Rescue College program.”
Organized in 1955, TARS has grown from 5 member rescue squads to 115 member organizations and representing over 5,000 individual members. TARS is comprised of 4 regions geographically from across Tennessee whose mission is to cooperate in, foster, and conduct research designed to advance the science and art of Rescue and First Aid work, and to encourage the standardization of practice and equipment.
The BCRS founded in 1969, is a non-profit organization and a TARS member organization since 1970, and its personnel continually train to be able to respond to many types of accidents. In addition to vehicle extrication, the BCRS provides other vital services to the residents of Benton County including farm rescue, water rescue and recovery, land searches, and trench rescue. The rescue squad is staffed by dedicated volunteers from the community and relies on the community’s financial support to be able operate.