FARMINGTON — A letter-writing campaign is ramping up to keep a 911 public safety answering point at the Franklin County Communications Center to help protect the safety and welfare of residents and visitors.
Law enforcement, dispatchers, firefighters, county and municipal officials, emergency medical service providers and others met Monday at a Farmington court to discuss how to demonstrate to the state that a communications center needs to stay located here.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has initiated an inquiry into the Legislature’s directive that the commission’s Emergency Services Communication Bureau, in consultation with the public safety answering points and other interested parties, develop a plan to reduce the current 26 answering points in the state to 15 to 17.
“We have until July 12 to respond to it,” Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Hardy said.
The Kimball report, authorized by the state Legislature, is part of an effort to find ways to save the state money by reducing public safety answering points in the state, county information officer Clyde Ross said.
A public safety answering point is a center with enhanced 911 capability, including mapping technology, that is operated on a 24-hour basis. It receives 911 calls and dispatches emergency services or, through routing transfers, passes 911 calls to public or private safety agencies.
One concern raised Monday was that the state may save money but expenses would increase and be passed down to the county and municipal governments. Another concern was that the number of 911 calls the Franklin County Communication Center handles annually is higher than the 9,100 calls the state is basing its information on. For each fire call, it means other agencies such as police and ambulance services are called out, officials said. The same goes for accidents, in many cases.
PSAPs also deal with more than just law enforcement, fire and medical emergencies. They help with calls from the Maine Warden Service, U.S. Border Patrol and animal control, among other entities.
Franklin County consists of unorganized territories and incorporated towns in about 1,600 square miles, mostly rural, that draw people to visit the mountains, lakes, trails, wilderness and ski areas. The county also has five school systems, a hospital, an inmate holding center and two court buildings.
The Franklin County site is the only PSAP in the county. However, Carrabassett Valley has a communications center on Sugarloaf that receives transferred emergency calls from both Franklin County and the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Without a PSAP, Franklin County would still need to fund a dispatch center but calls to 911 would be answered outside the area and transferred to the dispatch leaving the local service without a screen showing exactly where the caller is.
Dispatcher Stan Wheeler gave an example of the importance of having the equipment, including global positioning technology, at the center. He was able to guide a caller out of the woods by using the equipment at the center and the woman’s cell phone that was GPS-equipped.
Ross pointed out that there are 18 issues of concern listed in the notice of inquiry that the PUC is looking for answers on. That information may be found at www.maine911.com/psap.
State Rep. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, asked to be sent specific examples of how timing was critical in saving a life and mistakes that were made in transferring of 911 calls that did not go directly to the communications center.
Those who have telephones, land lines and cellular, pay a surcharge on their bills to help fund the 911 system.
Comments welcome
Comments on the Maine Public Utilities Commission notice of inquiry on a proposal to consolidate public safety answering center may be sent electronically by going to the website www.maine.gov/mpuc and following the instructions. Or be mailed to Administrative director, Maine Public Utilities Commission, 18 SHS, Augusta, ME 04333.
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