Department Information

Barrow County Emergency Services operates three divisions; Fire and Emergency Services, E-911, and Emergency Management. We will briefly explain the three divisions and their functions:

Fire and Emergency Services is comprised of three staff positions, eighty-four front line personnel, and fifteen part-time personnel. The Department serves 63,000 citizens through six strategically located emergency response facilities¹. We currently staff six fire engines, three of which are certified as advanced life support units, three that are certified as basic life support units, and six advanced life support ambulances and one truck company. All fire personnel are cross trained to the level of EMT-Intermediate or EMT-Paramedic.

Department personnel participate in a minimum of two hundred and forty hours of fire based training per year as required by the Insurance Service Office (ISO) and the department, personnel participate in required EMS training to maintain their certifications as required by the State of Georgia.

E-911 is the public's first contact with emergency services. E-911 personnel receive emergency and non-emergency calls and assign the appropriate field units to respond to the location of the incident. E-911 personnel are trained in emergency medical dispatch protocols where they provide scripted emergency medical information to callers in the event of a medical emergency. E-911 dispatches for six different agencies within the county, they also contact the many different agencies that work with the county for other non-emergency functions.

Emergency Management is responsible for managing the county resources in the event of a natural or man made disaster. Emergency Management Officials spend countless hours every year ensuring the county and it's personnel are prepared for any of the numerous disasters that pose threats to Barrow County, it's government, schools and the public themselves. Disaster drills are held in the county throughout the year to test different parts of the county resources. Emergency Management works together with the State and Federal Officials.

¹ Winder Fire Department provides fire suppression to the City of Winder.