Lumberton Rescue and EMS was founded in 1954 as the Robeson County Rescue Unit and was made up entirely of volunteers. As other squads were forming in the county, the name was changed to Lumberton Emergency Rescue Unit. In 2009 it was changed to our current name, due to our status as a combination organization with paid and unpaid personnel. Our organization is a 501©(3) non-profit and a member of the North Carolina Community Foundation.

Lumberton Rescue and EMS has thirty-five volunteers. The organization is split into three divisions, rescue, emergency medical services and special operations. We have thirty part-time employees who operate one of our three advanced life support ambulances twenty-four hours a day at the paramedic level. We have a junior rescue program for teenagers age 16 to 18. We provide rescue services, and are certified heavy rescue by the North Carolina Association of Rescue and EMS; our special operations division includes urban search and rescue (North Carolina Task Force 9), firefighter rehabilitation, and swift water rescue. We share urban search and rescue responsibilities with the Fayetteville Fire Department. In 2010, we responded to over 3700 calls for service, which included rescues, special events, deployments and emergency medical calls.

LREMS covers over 240 square miles of Robeson County, which includes the City of Lumberton and the surrounding area. We operate a medium and a heavy rescue truck, three advanced life support ambulances, a quick response vehicle, and a special operations four wheel drive. We currently use four boats of different lengths, and three special operations trailers. We work closely with nine volunteer fire departments and the Lumberton Fire Department.

LREMS headquarters is an 8925 square foot building located at 2391 Roberts Avenue in Lumberton. We operate the only rescue owned helipad in the state, which is located behind the building. The helipad is used to transfer patients from Southeastern Regional Medical Center to major trauma centers in North Carolina, such as Duke Medical Center and UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Lumberton Rescue and EMS provides public demonstrations of rescue techniques and equipment, and also tours of our headquarters. We also provide CPR and first aid training to the public during various times throughout the year. To schedule a class, tour or demonstration, please contact us through our contact page, or by calling 910-738-7275.