Founded in 1952, the Pamplin Volunteer Fire Department and EMS Inc. serves the Town of Pamplin and portions of Appomattox, Prince Edward, and Charlotte counties in central southside Virginia. The mission of the PCVFD & EMS is to provide life and property protection through fire suppression, pre-hospital emergency medical services, fire prevention and public education. The EMS branch of the department started operations in August of 2004. The Pamplin EMS eventually became a licenced EMS transport agency.

Our coverage area consists of an approximately 100 square miles of rural area. We have obtained an ISO fire rating of 7/9. The department consists of 37 active firefighters, 25 EMS providers and 8 retired Lifetime Members and several instructors who are certified by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. Our training includes fire suppression, hazardous material operations, rescue, vehicle and farm machinery extraction, incident command, and urban/wildland interface fire operations.

          We are primarily dispatched through the Town of Farmville's Emergency Communication Center. They provide an enhanced 911 call center with 2 to 3 dispatchers to handle emergency calls. E911 can pinpoint the location of land based or cellular phones so that we may be able to better locate an emergency. In addition, Appomattox and Charlotte Counties also have the capability to dispatch the department.

          We work closely with our neighboring fire departments and rescue squads and maintain mutual-aid agreements with them in order to more quickly and efficiently provide assistance to each other during a response to a major disaster. As a standard procedure, we also utilize them for extra man-power or water supply in the case of all structure fires.

          The Pamplin Volunteer Fire Department and EMS Inc. is a 501(c) (3) tax exempt, non-profit organization. All donations are used to fund operations and for the purchase and maintenance of fire and rescue apparatus and equipment.

•   Fire suppression is the foremost responsibility of the Department and consumes most of the man-hours and financial costs. In the event of a fire, the Department has four primary concerns:  to save lives; to extinguish the blaze; salvage any property not destroyed; and overhaul. These primary activities may be applied to either structure, vehicle, or wildland fires. Obviously the biggest concern during a fire is that someone could be trapped or physically unable to escape a burning building, vehicle, or area of an outdoor fire.  Search crews enter the area of operation simultaneously with fire attack crews in order to locate and rescue any persons in danger.  Our primary method of extinguishment is by the application of water and/or foam. Ideally, while certain crews are fighting the fire, others are beginning the process of salvaging any property threatened by fire, smoke, or water damage. This is accomplished by removing the property from the threatened area or by covering it with tarps or linen covers. Overhaul is the process of finding any smaller fires or hotspots and eliminating them. In structural firefighting, this often requires the removal of parts of the walls, floors, and ceilings.

• Life and Property Protection/Preservation goes hand in hand with fire suppression. However, the Department responds to other emergencies that may not necessarily involve fire suppression. Examples may include but are not limited to: Vehicle Crashes; Hazardous Material Incidents; Severe Weather Emergencies; Farm Machinery Accidents; Building Collapse; Search and Rescue and Flooding. In all these examples, the first priority is the preservation of life. This may include the rescue of trapped persons, or the evacuation of those that may be threatened.  Property protection is always secondary to the preservation of life and is usually accomplished by removing the property from the threatened area.  In cases of flooding, sandbags can be used to protect certain areas and we are often called upon to pump water out of flooded basements.  During vehicle crashes and haz-mat incidents, the threat may not be to any single piece of property, but to the environment itself.  In these cases, we attempt to contain and then control any threat.

• Emergency Medical Services is the newest service added to the department. In the event of a medical emergency, EMTs and First Responder trained firefighters provide initial pre-hospital care, such as basic life support and the stabilization of the patient, until a transporting medical agency arrives on scene. We maintain communication with the incoming agency and advise them of the patient’s status and of any change in their condition. The department is equipped with an Automatic External Defibrillator, which when combined with CPR can dramatically increase the odds of surviving a heart attack. Considering our area is primarily rural and a rescue squad is generally at least 30 minutes away, this is a tremendous asset to our community.

• Mutual Aid to other agencies is provided when a neighboring public safety agency faces an emergency situation they are unable to handle alone. This may include actively assisting that agency at an emergency scene or standing by to cover their first due area while that department is engaged elsewhere. This also allows the sharing of resources to help lower the operating cost of emergency management. We have a close working relationship with our area Fire Departments, Rescue Squads, Law Enforcement agencies, and State agencies such as Virginia State Police, Medflight, VDOT and the Department of Forestry.

• Public Education is another tool to provide for our main objective, the preservation of life and property. Every October is Fire Prevention Month, during that time the Department usually holds an open house. This is a chance for the community to familiarize itself with the equipment the Department uses and how NOT to need our services. Fire prevention articles, pamphlets, and booklets are given away to help educate the public on what they can do at home to protect themselves. The department attends parades and events such as the Safe Kids Day program, to educate children about the dangers of fire, and in case of emergencies, to recognize firefighters as someone who is there to help. Websites such as Sparky the Fire Dog are used to help children learn about fire safety and prevention.

• Emergency Services include the use of the department buildings as an emergency shelter or as a distribution point of emergency supplies to the public. The property includes back-up electrical generators and the Town of Pamplin’s 75,000 gallon potable water tank giving the department an adequate supply of gravity feed water in the event of an emergency. We are able to provide shelter, electrical power, heat, water, and kitchen and bathroom facilities for as many as 150 persons. The Department can also be utilized to inform the community of important news or information through the public address system on every apparatus.