MEXICO – The Oxford County commissioners honored two Dixfield men Tuesday evening for helping to save the life of a Mexico teenager.

Meeting for the first time in the Mexico Town Office, the three-member panel also heard a request from Med-Care Ambulance Service Director Dean Milligan to provide emergency service for several unorganized territories.

Ernie Cloutier and Brian Palmer, both residents of Averill Hill Road in Dixfield, tracked the snowmobile trail of Cody Magoon, 16, when he became lost in the Holman and Sugarloaf mountain area in early February. After finding the boy, they then took him to Cloutier’s home where he was wheeled into a waiting Med-Care ambulance.

“It was their quick action and good judgment that saved Cody’s life,” Commissioner David Duguay of Byron said as he presented the two men with certificates of recognition.

Cody and his mother, Trena, along with Betsy Palmer, Cloutier’s wife and a nurse on duty when Cody was brought to Rumford Hospital, were on hand for the recognition.

Cody said he has learned not to set out on wilderness trails without a partner. Both he and his mother were pleased that the two men were recognized for their deed.

Milligan asked the commissioners to look into awarding a contract for Med-Care to provide ambulance service to Milton, Riley and Grafton townships. Med-Care already provides such service to the unorganized territories of Andover West Surplus, Andover North Surplus, North C Surplus, and a portion of Township C, Milligan said. He asked for an annual contract of $3,500 for providing ambulance service to the seven unorganized territories.

Commissioner Steve Merrill of Norway said the request made sense because of the routes of coverage Med-Care already handles.

Milligan said his request was made to cut down on confusion whenever an emergency service is dispatched to the northern tier of the county, and to avoid competing with emergency services in Bethel or Rangeley.

“We’ve spent entire nights on the mountains (of the unorganized territories) in the past, then billed for the service,” said Milligan, who added that if there was a contract with county government, billing would no longer be necessary.

“These unorganized territories are closer to our access roads. A lot of time, multiple agencies are dispatched,” he added.

He said Med-Care is already linked with Newry and Rumford fire departments, which respond to several of the requested unorganized territories.

Commission Chairman Caldwell Jackson of Oxford directed Milligan to put a plan together, then present it at a later commission meeting.

Also on Tuesday, Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said a recent child identification clinic held in Lovell was such a success that a second one is being planned for April 26 at the Spurr’s Corner fire station in Otisfield.

He also passed out a state statute that outlined the criteria for county police patrols for Oxford County towns, partially in response to a newspaper story about a town that has cut one police officer with plans to have the county pick up coverage there.

State law says that county deputies will patrol towns without their own police departments.

Also on Tuesday, county Emergency Management Director Scott Parker presented the three commissioners with certificates for completing a program in National Incident Management Systems. The certification, the first to be earned by a board of Oxford County commissioners, enables the county to seek federal Department of Homeland Security funding.