May 28--JAMES CITY -- Sparks usually come before the fire. For Bob Ryalls, it was a blaze more than four decades ago that ignited a career in emergency services that's lasted nearly as long.
Ryalls, assistant fire chief for James City County, has been running medical calls and fighting fires since he was in high school. He's served as a volunteer, a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy, and a paid medic and firefighter.
After 36 years with the county, he's hanging up his turn-out gear come July 1.
"He's literally done it all," said Tal Luton, James City fire chief. "He brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the table that's going to be very difficult to replace."
Coincidence set Ryalls, 64, on his path in 1968.
His father had been offered a management position with Central Telephone and Telegraph Company, and moved the family to Front Royal. The family spent their first night in town in a hotel.
"They had a major fire at the stockyard," Ryalls recalled, "and the only hydrant in town was in front of the hotel."
During the night Ryalls watched as firefighters fought the blaze, shuttling water from the hydrant to the stockyard. That same year he joined the town's volunteer fire department.
At the height of the Vietnam War Ryalls was drafted, so he joined the Navy with the intention of going into computer technology. At classification he was asked to list additional jobs he'd be interested in, so he put down hospital corpsman because of his experience as a medic.
While training at Cheatham Annex in the early 1970s, Ryalls joined the Williamsburg Volunteer Fire Department. In 1976, as a cardiac technician, Ryalls worked the first recorded "save" in Williamsburg.
After leaving the military, Ryalls entered the Navy Reserves and began work in James City as the department's first paid medic. He rose to EMS supervisor in 1985 and to EMS district chief a decade later. He has served in his current role since 2009.
Ryalls has run countless calls over the years, but said the ones that get to him the most are those involving young children. A call involving a nearly 3-year-old boy forever changed his perspective on working in emergency services.
Ryalls was working in Front Royal when a call about a car accident came in around dusk. He said the ambulance was asked to expedite service. A little boy chasing his siblings in the yard had misjudged where they went and ran into the road, Ryalls said. The boy was struck by a car driven by a teenage girl.
"All the way to the hospital," he said. "I didn't see that kid; I saw my little brother."
At the hospital, Ryalls said the doctor told medics every bone in the boy's body was broken. He still remembers the sound of the anguish and the screams when the family was told the boy had died.
"It cut right through me," Ryalls said.
"Until that point, I had been red lights, siren, pedal to the metal, just doing it for the glory," he said. "That kind of changed. I realized it wasn't the glory. It was to do your best to alleviate the pain and suffering of those who were injured or ill."
Since he started with James City, he's witnessed growth and changes in the department, as well as the evolution of his profession. Ryalls said when he first came to work for the county fire department there were only two dozen employees. Now, there are 106.
Ryalls has watched ambulances evolve from vans into heavy-duty vehicles. He also recalls when the county Emergency Operations Center had to be set up in a common room because there was no permanent space for it.
During his tenure, the job of medic has also changed significantly. Prior to the mid 1980s there were no standing orders for medics, so they had to call a doctor to get clearance before administering medication, intubating a patient or performing some other procedure beyond CPR.
"It was 'Mother, may I?'" Ryalls joked.
Lack of cell phones made it more complicated. He said crews would have to run from the patient across the building to a phone, then back while trying to save a life. He considers the change in the way those things are handled to be one of the single biggest assets for medical providers in the field.
Billy Apperson, spokesman for James City-Bruton Volunteer Fire Department, said he's worked with Ryalls since the early 1970s when Ryalls was a volunteer in Williamsburg. He called Ryalls a good fire chief and a good man who will be missed.
"He's a medic at heart," Apperson said. "Personal care to the injured was always his specialty."
While he plans to spend plenty of time with his family in retirement, Ryalls admits he's not leaving the fire and rescue business cold turkey. He'll be training future generations.
This summer Ryalls will spend five weeks at the National Fire Academy in Maryland teaching courses. He then plans to pursue opportunities to teach across the nation. Luton said Ryalls will also return to assist with training in James City.
Robertson can be reached at 757-345-2342.
Copyright 2014 - The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg
