Firefighters and EMS staff urge pay, new equipment and a Gordonsville station as response times strain services

Firefighters and emergency medical staff told the Board of Supervisors that staffing shortages and expanded duties continue to strain county emergency services, and a Gordonsville resident said delayed ambulance response times raise safety concerns for infants and small children.

Representatives of Orange County’s firefighters and EMS used public comment to describe heavy workloads, new equipment and morale-boosting gestures from county leaders. Chris Bass, identified as president of Orange County Professional Firefighters Local 5431, thanked supervisors and county administration for holiday outreach and gifts to recruits and said the gestures “tremendously improve morale.”

County employees said senior staff and volunteers are taking extra frontline shifts. Tristan Lugo, who identified himself as a county employee and member of the same local, said Chief Rockmore, Captain Secora, Randy Williams and Kristen Cook have been serving 12- to 24-hour ambulance shifts in addition to their regular duties. He described staffing shortfalls that have left crews working extended shifts to maintain service.

Fire and EMS speakers also described recent equipment rollouts. Ben Allman said the county in January began carrying a new infection-treatment medication on ambulances for qualifying patients and is rolling out Zoll LifePak 35 cardiac monitors on engines and ambulances after January training. “We are still trying to be the forefront of fire and EMS,” he said.

In public comment, resident Angel Chumley said ambulance response to her home in Gordonsville sometimes took about 30 minutes. Chumley described two calls involving young children, one for a choking infant and another for a febrile seizure, and said volunteers or relatives sometimes arrived before ambulances. “I really thought I was gonna lose her then,” she said, describing the seizure incident. Chumley asked the board to consider restoring a station in Gordonsville; she said the community previously had volunteer coverage and expressed concern that long response times imperil young children.

Separately, a county staff member (name not specified in the public transcript) updated the board that staff completed draft public-safety salary proposals that afternoon and expected to provide the proposals to supervisors “perhaps by the end of the week” for consideration.

Board members thanked speakers and acknowledged the staffing pressures; no formal action to allocate funding or to reopen a Gordonsville station was recorded in the public portion of the meeting. The public comment and staff update concluded with expressions of appreciation from firefighters for the board’s recognition and a reminder from staff that formal salary proposals would be supplied for supervisor review soon.