York County recently received several regional awards presented by the Peninsulas Emergency Medical Services Council at an annual ceremony held Saturday, May 18.

The Outstanding EMS Provider Award, given to an individuals who exemplifies outstanding dedication and service to his/her community through involvement with EMS, was presented to Firefighter/Paramedic Lacy New. Her compassion is indicative in her follow-up with patients she has cared for. This one-on-one relationship translates into a positive bond between the patient and the entire EMS community.

The Outstanding EMS Instructor Award, presented to a provider who exemplifies outstanding teaching and leadership qualities while serving as an educator in an EMS program, was given to Lieutenant/Paramedic Blake Byrd. Lt. Byrd teaches a variety of EMS courses that help providers maintain their certifications and has served in this capacity for over 10 years.

Operations Supervisor Jane Jackson was selected as Outstanding Emergency Telecommunicator. This award, given to an individual whose outstanding dedication and services has demonstrated exceptional contribution to the improved delivery of EMS, was presented to Mrs. Jackson because of her consistent leadership in a variety of positions throughout her tenure with York County. Mrs. Jackson currently serves as Operations Supervisor for the York/Poquoson/William sburg Emergency Communications Center.

The Department of Fire and Life Safety received the Outstanding EMS Agency Award because of its continued high-level of professionalism and service to the community. This award is a testament to the hard work by the men and women of the department for their delivery of quality EMS care on the Peninsula.

York County participates in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Medical Response System (HRMMRS), which received the award for Outstanding Contribution to EMS Preparedness and Response. HRMMRS is a regional partnership to serve during emergencies that would typically overwhelm a locality’s or region’s ability to respond. HRMMRS can deploy across the state to mitigate an incident and brings its own equipment, supplies, and medications to reduce incident impact and potential loss of life.

Each of these award winners will be considered for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Governor’s EMS Awards. For more information about these award winners, please call York County Fire and Life Safety at (757) 890-3600 or, in the case of the Outstanding Emergency Telecommunicator Award, please call Emergency Communications Director Terry Hall at (757) 890- 3621.

The mission of the Peninsulas EMS Council is to assist local emergency medical services components and to assess, identify, coordinate, plan and implement an efficient and effective regional emergency medical services delivery system in partnership with the Virginia Office of EMS and the Virginia EMS Advisory Board. More information about the Council is available online at peninsulas.vaems.org.