WINNSBORO – Fairfield County’s Emergency Medical Services department is making steady progress in strengthening staffing, improving training, and expanding equipment aimed at improving patient care across the county, according to Patrick Daneen, Deputy Chief of Clinical Services for Fairfield County EMS.
“We make sure that our providers are getting the education they need,” he said. “Our EMS employees have accomplished about 40-50 hours of continuing education in the past year, which is well above the national average.”
“These trainings have covered everything from their own mental health and awareness to up to probably the most severe emergencies and cardiac resuscitation and trauma emergencies,” he said.
Daneen said his goal is simple.
“When someone calls Fairfield County EMS, I want our providers prepared for whatever is to come,” Daneen said. “One of our proudest accomplishments within the past year was in December 2025. We became the first EMS agency to get all of our personnel certified in the Neonatal Resuscitation Program.
“In addition to training our own personnel, we assist with training the fire department. We train their EMRs as well,” he said.
Daneen also addressed public education of residents.
“We offer CPR certifications for civilians at no cost to the county,” he said. “That could be churches, businesses, and residential. If someone wants to organize a class, and it’s in Fairfield County, we can make it happen,” Daneen said.
“We have certified 200 people within the past year, and it makes me proud to say that training the public has helped with our cardiac arrest numbers and returning pulses at a rate of about 29 percent, which is the high end of the national average.”
Daneen said the county’s program empowers citizens to begin life-saving care before EMS arrives, which he says plays a critical role in survival.
He said an accomplishment he’s proudest of is that he has been able to bring an EMT class back to Fairfield County.
“It’s been five years since we’ve had one in the county,” Daneen said. “We have one going on right now and another one starting in September. We have 13 members in the current class and it looks like they’re all going to graduate,” he said.
Fairfield County, like many rural areas, faces challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency medical personnel. Daneen said the department’s education initiatives and supportive training environment are key strategies in addressing those challenges.
