Emergency dispatch transition going well

LIVERMORE FALLS — The transition of emergency dispatch services to dispatchers at the Androscoggin and Franklin county sheriff's departments is working well. Some issues that are in the process of being corrected are unrelated to safety, officials said.

Androscoggin County took over dispatching emergency calls to Livermore Falls police and fire departments and the Livermore Fire Department on Monday.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Department started dispatching emergency medical responders for Livermore, Livermore Falls and Jay on Nov. 18.

Those services were all previously handled by Livermore Falls dispatchers. That town's residents voted in September to close dispatch due to funding concerns.

This week, Livermore Falls dispatchers stood by at the police station in case of glitches.

On Monday, Nov. 30, those dispatchers will be gone.

The Police Department will have an administrative assistant from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. most weekdays to help with walk-in concerns. After hours, calls to police non-emergency numbers will go directly to Androscoggin County.

A call box has been installed outside the Livermore Falls Police Station, on the ramp side of the building, for after-hours service, Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said Wednesday.

The box has two buttons. One is a 911 help button and the other calls into the police station. If an officer doesn't answer within three rings, the call will automatically be transferred to Androscoggin County.

"We have put a lot of thought into this changeover in a little bit of time and we think we've covered all our bases," Livermore Falls Town Manager Jim Chaousis said.

As far as the transition has gone, it's OK, Steward said. The only major component not done is the record-keeping system, which he expects to be resolved but not before Monday.

The town's record-managing system needs to be connected to the countywide system, Androscoggin County Capt. Ray Lafrance said.

Steward is still operating on his current system, which is a one-town, basic system, Lafrance said. The Androscoggin County system is countywide and is shared with Lewiston and Auburn.

Once Livermore Falls is hooked to that system, the calls that dispatchers handle will automatically show up on Steward's record system.

"I think it's going to be all right," Livermore Falls fire Chief Mark Chretien said.

"So far we've had no calls," Livermore fire Chief Don Castonguay said. "They've testing our pagers every night and it has been pretty good. I think it's going to be all right. We've just got to be patient."

Franklin County Chief Deputy Ray Meldrum said he hadn't heard a single complaint about dispatching NorthStar ambulance calls to the tri-town area.

"I don't think they really noticed any difference," he said.

Androscoggin and Franklin county dispatchers are doing a great job, NorthStar Executive Director David Robie said. "Everything, knock on wood, is going smooth."

Franklin County already dispatches ambulances for most of that county and now has entered into a contract to dispatch ambulances to the tri-town area at a cost of $2,100 a year, Robie said.

"NorthStar is always very appreciative of the great work that Franklin County dispatchers do for our ambulance service," he said.

dperry@sunjournal.com