LA PLATA, Md. — As population growth continues to drive demand for emergency services, Charles County officials are planning new EMS stations, including the Pinefield Fire and EMS Station, where a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for May 12, 2026.
Michelle Lilly, director of the Department of Emergency Services, presented the Capital Improvement Projects overview of future EMS station planning during the March 17, 2026 meeting.
Officials said Charles County currently has 16 operational career and volunteer EMS stations, all located in volunteer-owned facilities. Of those, five are exclusively volunteer staffed, while 11 operate with a mix of career and volunteer personnel.
Current career staffing includes a basic life support unit in Nanjemoy, two career units at the White Plains Mobile Intensive Care Unit station — one basic life support and one advanced life support unit — and advanced life support units at nine additional stations, including two units assigned to Waldorf EMS Station 3.
As part of future planning, officials said the planned Pinefield Fire and EMS station, with a groundbreaking scheduled for May 12, 2026, will become the first county-owned career EMS station in Charles County.
Doyle Construction recently announced it has been selected as the general contractor for the Pinefield Fire and EMS Station and released a rendering of the planned Waldorf facility.
“This will be the first county-owned career EMS station in the county,” emergency services staff told commissioners.
Emergency Services staff also identified additional potential locations for future county career EMS stations, including:
- The La Plata Armory
- A site along Piney Church Road near Blue Crabs Stadium
- The former Sears Auto Center site
Officials said the analysis is based on emergency response data, projected housing development, response times and unit hour utilization, a national metric used to measure EMS workload.
Officials also explained the difference between events and responses, noting that an event refers to a single incident while responses reflect the number of units dispatched. For example, one crash may be counted as one event but could involve two or more responding units.
Planning data presented during the briefing showed significant residential development expected in key areas of the county, including nearly 6,000 planned housing units in the La Plata area, more than 1,400 units in Waldorf, and approximately 2,000 units projected near the Piney Church service area.
Officials said unit hour utilization, a national EMS workload metric, shows the ideal operating range is between 25% and 35%, with higher levels indicating the potential need to consider additional units.
Planning data presented during the briefing showed significant residential development expected in key areas of the county, including nearly 6,000 planned housing units in the La Plata area, more than 1,400 units in Waldorf, and approximately 2,000 units projected near the Piney Church service area.
Officials said the proposed La Plata Armory station could support additional public safety functions beyond EMS response, including a medical duty officer, hazardous materials support, mobile integrated health services and potentially a mobile crisis response team.
“With building this site, we will relieve call volume for La Plata as the population continues to grow,” staff told commissioners.
Learn more and view the full EMS station planning details at storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/244ba6fdb7cf433b844d98472cc49203
Watch the session of the Board of County Commissioners: March 17, 2026 session on CCGTV.
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