KNOXVILLE (WVLT) - If it were baseball, members of the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad would be the utility players who are capable of playing any role at any time. They may not make millions, in fact they don't even make pennies, but their line-up is highly trained and in it for the long run.

On Saturday, KVRS celebrated a half century of doing whatever it takes to save and protect East Tennesseans.

"Fifty years is a long time, we wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of the community, said David Harrington, the assistant chief of daily operations for the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad who has been a member for nearly half its existence. "Membership remains the heart and soul of this organization, without them, the wheels would come to a screeching halt."

The celebration also looked back at fifty years of considerable growth, in terms of size and technology.

"Back when we started, if somebody drown you had to drag them out of the river and recover the body," said Gary Sharpe, who joined the rescue squad in the early 1970s. “It might end up taking you a day or two, or it might take you several weeks.

The work once done with done with members personal boats and home made dragging devices is now accomplished with SONAR, underwater cameras, and trained divers who make up the Water Rescue team. Their other specialty teams handle a variety of tasks, including rural searches, heavy lifting and much more.

"They serve a great need in this area,” said Charlene Lindsey, whose father was one of the charter members of the squad. “The members that go out on cave rescues are dispatched all over the state because they're the best."

The Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad has also been dispatched to tornadoes in West Tennessee and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans.

Knoxville, Knox County, federal grants and private donations provide KVRS with the money for new equipment

"The people that we thank are the citizens that support us every year," said Harrington.

Since anything can happen at anytime, the more than 100 members of the rescue squad remain perpetually on-call, allowing their mission to continue well into the future.

If you would like to find out more about the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad, you can click on the link below.