About Us

The Department of Public Safety  provides two main functional services to the public:

1.)  Emergency Management
2.)  Supplemental Fire & EMS Staff

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

The Emergency Management Office, a division of the Department of Public Safety, is responsible for ensuring protective actions for the public through a uniform and organized effort to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and technological emergencies (such as hurricanes, terrorism, tornadoes, ice or snow storms or nuclear disasters). This includes the traditional emergency management functions as well as the management of the Accomack County Emergency Operations Center, development of the Emergency Operations Plan, coordination with emergency response agencies, and coordination of emergency communications.  The emergency management office participates in several preparedness organizations including, Eastern Shore Emergency Managers Association, Hampton Roads Emergency Management Committee and the Delmarva Emergency Task Force.

FIRE / RESCUE

The County’s fire protection and emergency medical services are primarily provided through the fifteen volunteer Fire/Rescue companies.  Each organization receives an operating allocation from the County annually through an appropriation from General Fund and from a special property tax levy for the companies in each fire and rescue district.  The levies vary among the districts.  This funding allows the companies and squads to be equipped with modern equipment and apparatus.  In addition, nine out of the fifteen volunteer companies are supplemented with County staff.  These employees are stationed in the volunteer companies during the daytime hours.  One fire and rescue district provides twenty-four hour coverage using county staff.  Mutual aid agreements are in effect with neighboring jurisdictions to lend assistance in the case of a major event.

At this time, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) employs twenty-eight (28) staff members who are assigned to nine (9) volunteer Fire/Rescue stations.  At full staffing, each station has a minimum of two personnel on duty through a variety of work schedules.  Two personnel are legally required to respond to an EMS call (driver & attendant) and the minimal staffing level for a fire call is three personnel (driver & 2 firefighters).

The primary purpose of supplemental staffing is to respond to Fire/EMS calls during times when volunteer availability is low and to provide assistance at emergency calls. The supplemental staff also performs light station maintenance, in-service training, preplanning, apparatus checks, as well as, completing a standardized list of activities to ensure that equipment is in optimum condition.

At present, the DPS staff is assigned to only those Stations with an EMS unit (ambulance).  They do not offer any direct assistance to those stations providing just fire protection services.  Financial support for the Fire/EMS supplemental staff comes from the Emergency Medical Services Fund levied in the four tax districts.  Supplemental staff classifications, including salary and required position certifications, have been listed below.

Mission

The mission of the Accomack County Department of Public Safety (DPS) is to provide the highest level of life and property safety to our customers through the extension of fire prevention, fire control, emergency medical, disaster preparedness, and public education services. We are in place to respond quickly in an effort to save lives. 
 
Commitment

The Department of Public Safety exists for the life safety and property protection of the residents and businesses of Accomack County. Our job is to prevent or minimize losses due to fire, disasters, medical emergencies, and other traumatic events.

Accomack County's Public Safety System is comprised of dedicated and highly trained volunteer and career personnel. The training, equipment and other administrative and operational components are recognized as one of the finest teams in the regional and state fire-rescue and emergency service network.

Our commitment is to do our job in a manner that demonstrates that we are quick to respond, well trained and courteous. We care about the people we serve.