PARIS – Efforts are under way to improve communication capabilities in the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency’s emergency operations control room.

“The Oxford County EMA has probably one of the lowest budgets in the state because we don’t have so many bells and whistles,” said EMA Director Scott Parker, who met with county commissioners on Tuesday to gain support for his plan to seek state funding to upgrade the emergency operations room.

The room, located in the basement of the Oxford County Superior Courthouse in what used to be the grand jury deliberation room, is outfitted with a few conference tables and maps. With limited communications, Parker said the room, which is primarily used for training, is limited in its usefulness both for training and disaster preparedness.

“My emergency operations center is wherever I stand,” said Parker in describing his situation during an emergency.

Parker told commissioners that the old grand jury room was designated as the disaster operations room about six months ago when the state asked county EMA directors if they wanted any money to upgrade their emergency operations. He received $1,000.

But Parker said when he realized other counties were asking for and receiving $5,000 and even $10,000 from the state money that was left over from last year’s Patriot’s Day storm funds, he realized it would be a chance to create an effective emergency operations room.

“I’d like to go back to MEMA,” said Parker, who with commissioners’ approval will seek any available funding at the end of this fiscal year in June. The money is not a matching grant, but is free and clear, he said.

The plan, he said, is to buy a 52-inch plasma television screen, which has been priced at about $5,600 and will include Internet connections and programs that are the same the state uses for its operations.

He will also look into video telephonic conferencing equipment.

Parker said the county has a written crisis plan that includes the creation of a disaster team of officials including himself, commissioners, the county treasurer, Red Cross and Stephen’s Memorial Hospital representatives and a district attorney, should there be a need for a legal interpretation on an action during a disaster. The team, he said, needs a home and a communications systems where everyone can access up to date information and talk to each other through video links.

The equipment can also be used by other county officials, including the sheriffs office, which may have a prisoners that can be interrogated through the video cam method. Because the county is trying to share costs between departments to reduce budgets, Parker said he will look at how the equipment may help other county departments.

Parker oversees local emergency management agency’s in a county that is slightly more than 2,000 square miles, includes 34 towns, two organized plantations, 19 unorganized territories and has a population of more than 53,000. Because of its size and the fact that it is bordered by four counties, Parker said the district has been divided into three regions.

“Now we will practice what we have written,” said Parker of implementing the crisis plan.