911 EMS
Police - Town and County
Fire Department
Rescue Squad
Medical Services
Red Cross
Free Clinic
Enhanced 911
Essex County is implementing enhanced 911 to improve the accuracy and speed of response to emergencies. A person dialing 9-1-1 is routed through the local telephone exchange office where their telephone's ANI (Automatic Number Identification) is identified. From there the call is routed to the County Office where the ANI is matched to it's corresponding customer service record, producing ALI (Automatic Location Identification), which is a visual display of the caller's location.Fully implemented in summer 2000, the emergency service operator receives a display of the caller's telephone number, address, type of phone service and a reference to the Police, Fire and Rescue Squad dispatching agency for that location. The call-taker quickly verifies, verbally, the information on the screen, then determines the nature of the problem, and dispatches the appropriate emergency service.
The link between the telephone number, the location of the phone, the display of this information and the recently installed street name and numbering is one of the keys to speedy emergency team response.
Police
Essex County is extremely well policed to provide its residents with the greatest amount of safety and protection available. The town of Tappahannock employs five police officers, headed by the Chief of Police James H. Barrett, Jr. Essex County provides a Sheriff's Office, located within Tappahannock, which employs 11 officers and is headed by Sheriff Stanley S. Clarke. There are also five State police officers and three sergeants assigned to the area.
- Tappahannock Police Department
315 Duke St.
804-443-3336
- Essex County Sheriff's Office
304 Prince St.
804-443-3346
Fire
Tappahannock Essex V.F.D. has been serving Essex County residents going on for almost 88 years. Preserving life and property to the citizens of this county is our mission.
With an active force of around 50 members, TEFVD now staffs 3 stations. The newest station, Station 3 located in the Occupacia District of the county. Station 1 Main station is located in Tappahannock and Station 2 is located south in Center Cross.
- Tappahannock-Essex Volunteer Fire Department
804-443-2111
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 Station 2 Center Cross  Station 3 Champlain |
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Rescue Squad
Tappahannock Rescue Squad is a volunteer force, totalling about 40 members. The squad handles 600 to 700 calls a year and can transport victims to Riverside Tappahannock Hospital or Richmond and Gloucester, if needed.
Essex County Red Cross
Duke St.,
P.O. Box 583, Tappahannock, VA 22560
804-443-2116
Since 2006, River Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross has been supporting Essex County with a small handful of volunteers residing in the county. The chapter provides limited services of assisting with small disasters such as house fires, blood drives and Armed Forces Emergency Services. As the Chapter only has one full time employee, Julie Dudley – Executive Director, she relies on volunteers to provide American Red Cross services to their communities. 98% of services provided by River Counties Chapter are provided by volunteers and 100% of Essex donations are providing these services.
Funds raised in Essex County are almost depleted. On average, each family of four in a house fire receives approximately $1000 to support their various and individual needs. They receive assistance with food, clothing and lodging. This help is provided immediately – just when it is most needed. River Counties Chapter supports Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex, Richmond and Westmoreland from local donations.
We do not receive funding from National or the Federal Government and each chapter relies on local donations from the community to support our services such as a Level 1 – hurricane, tornado, ice storm or coastal flooding (first $10,000 is funded from the local chapter), a house fire and armed forces emergencies. Many of our clients rely on the services of the American Red Cross to provide immediate and prompt assistance when they have lost everything and in some cases, this is the only financial assistance they receive.
To make your tax deductible donation to support Essex County, please make your check payable to River Counties Chapter (put Essex County in the memo line), and mail to PO Box 1151, Kilmarnock, VA 22482 or by telephoning 804-435-7669 to make a credit card donation.
To volunteer, contact Jennifer Stott Edwards (Essex County Coordinator) at 804-443-3097 or jstottedwards@gmail.com
We are unable to provide our services without you!
Web page last updated: July 31, 2010
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