The Southwest Virginia EMS Council would like to thank all of our region's EMS agencies and providers for their outstanding service to the region.  The dedication and commitment of these heroes insures the health and safety of our citizens, so we honor you for all you do in service of others.

The most recent versions of regional EMS plans (including the Stroke Triage Plan, Trauma Triage Plan, and MCI Plan) are reviewed annually and approved by the Southwest Virginia EMS Council Board of Directors.  The most recent versions of these plans are available for download from this website. The Plans and Protocols section of the website always contains the most up-to-date information. Click on the following link to access this information:  PLANS AND PROTOCOLS.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 Regional EMS Awards!
Click Here To Submit A Nomination

"To honor outstanding achievement in emergency medical services."

About the Awards

The purpose of the regional EMS awards program is to provide special recognition for outstanding contributions to the local, regional or statewide EMS system. Eleven categories, plus an additional high school scholarship award, recognize EMS field providers, EMS instructors, EMS agencies, EMS agency administrators, public safety communications officers, emergency nurses, operational medical directors, contributions by those not affiliated with pre-hospital EMS services and overall excellence in EMS.  More Info.

EMS agencies are required to participate in ongoing performance review under the EMS Rules and Regulations.  Participation in the Southwest Virginia EMS Council regional PI program insures compliance of this requirement.  The Performance Improvement data form for the third quarter of 2013 has been posted for submission.  Please click the following link  Performance Improvement for further information.

The Southwest Virginia EMS Council is proud to announce that four SWVAEMS Regional EMS Award winners are the recipients of  2012 Governor's EMS Awards.   The Governor's EMS Awards Program is a state-level awards program recognizing the outstanding contributions of members of the EMS community.  Winners are selected from nominations from each of the eleven regional EMS councils.  The awards were presented at a ceremony held on Saturday, November 10 at the Virginia EMS Symposium in Norfolk.  

Effective October 10, 2012, the Virginia Emergency Medical Services Regulations 12 VAC5-31 (2012) became effective as administrative code language. The new EMS Rules and Regulations contain several important changes to existing regulations.  We encourage EMS agencies and providers to become familiar with the new EMS Rules and Regulations.

In July 2013 the VPHIB minimum data set will be migrated from the current VPHIB version 2 (v2) minimum data set and standards to the VPHIB version 3 (VAv3) data set and standards. All Virginia EMS agencies will need to migrate from v2 to VAv3 between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. As of January 1, 2014 VPHIB will no longer accept EMS data in the current version 2 format.

For more information, please visit the OEMS webpage.

On July 1, 2012, the Virginia Office of EMS transitioned its BLS testing processes from state testing to the National Registry of EMT’s. Transitioning to National Registry allows Virginia to:

• Standardize the entire initial certification process
• Be fully compliant with the National EMS Education documents.

• For Virginia trained EMS Providers, reciprocity will transition from a paper-based process to an automated process.
• For individuals coming into Virginia from outside the state, reciprocity will continue to be paper-based.

For more information, please visit the OEMS webpage.

Performance Improvement resources have been updated for the current year including revised regional PI/TPI plans, a PI template, and quarterly tracking sheets.  Please click on this link to access the PI resources section of our website.