Our View

Our View

Saving lives

Fire and rescue services are like insurance. We

never think much about them if we don’t need

them, but when we do, we need them badly.

Rappahannock County has commendable fire and rescue services. They are volunteers, and among them are pros like Ann Spieker of the Washington Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, who was a paid firefighter in Fairfax rising to a EMS Lieutenant rank and J. B. Carter of the Amissville Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company who is a paid firefighter in Prince William County.

In their home county, they and dozens of others spend „ a lot of their free time voluntarily manning the fire com'panies that protect our fives and our homes. The American volunteer fire company is as old as the Revolution and as fundamental to fife in rural America as the glue of our democracy.

Being a volunteer emergency worker in this county is a tricky job. The distances are far, the radio and telephone hookups are hampered by the mountains and the roads up some mountains and backwoods are winding and dangerous, lb respond to a 911 call, the responders need the quickest call they can get, the best directions and the patient coordination of the dispatcher.

Indeed every response is a team job: the fire fighters, the emergency medical technicians, the law enforcement officers and the dispatchers.

There are six Rappahannock County dispatchers, working 24/7 at the Sheriffs Office. They are all trained deputy sheriffs, all women, all as dedicated as the fireman who enters the burning building. When we call 911 for help, that’s where our call goes.

The dispatchers must understand our needs, dispatch the right fire company and the right piece of equipment to the right address and direct police units as well. Later they may have to fine up helicopters or get special equipment to the scene of the emergency.