Last week representatives from Lincoln County’s Communications Center urged the area’s legislators to maintain the agency’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) status in the face of a statewide consolidation effort.
Communication Center officials convened a special meeting at the Wiscasset facility July 22 to discuss a recent report that advocated downsizing the state’s number of PSAP operation centers from 26 to between 15 and 17. Though Lincoln County’s PSAP status is not under direct threat of elimination, county representatives made sure to inform area lawmakers of the vital role that the calling center has in saving lives and property.
A PSAP, according to state definition, is a 24-hour facility with “enhanced 9-1-1 capability.”
A PSAP receives 9-1-1 calls and directly dispatches emergency services or transfers such calls to public safety agencies. The Lincoln County Communications Center is equipped with GPS-assisted cellular plotting capability, allowing it to receive visual placement of all cellular calls to the center.
The Communication Center’s special meeting last Thursday came shortly after the Center submitted a formal response to a notice of inquiry from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The notice of inquiry requested information and advice on the most appropriate methods for consolidating state PSAPs.
In their response, the Center stated unequivocally that the elimination and consolidation of PSAP centers statewide would undermine emergency response services.
“We don’t feel a reduction of PSAP centers is in the best public safety interest of the citizens and visitors of the State of Maine,” said Rob Bickford, a shift supervisor at the 9-1-1 Communications Center.
He insisted that the reduction in the number of PSAPs would create a more fragmented system resulting in unacceptable delays in emergency services.
When asked by District 20 State Senator David Trahan (R-Waldoboro) if the Center would support consolidation if it were not in jeopardy, Bickford hesitated, but maintained that further consolidation would not be in the State’s best interest. He also insisted that the Center still considered its PSAP at risk.
“We consider ourselves to be on the block,” said Bickford.
If the Utilities Commission were to reduce the number of PSAPS to the recommended 15-17, however, Bickford stated that one PSAP in each of Maine’s 16 counties would be the optimal configuration.
In 2009, the 124th Maine Legislature passed Public Law 2009, requiring the Utilities Commission to develop a plan for the most favorable PSAP configuration for the State. The Utilities Commission contracted with L. Robert Kimball, a consulting firm that specializes in public safety systems. Kimball recommended a PSAP configuration of 15-17 regional, not county-based, centers.
“The bottom line is cost, “said Lincoln 9-1-1 Communications Director Tim Pellerin.
State Senator Trahan disagreed with the cost argument put forward by the State.
“Is there a savings in PSAP reduction…the answer is no,” said Trahan.
Pellerin agreed, stating that any savings in the reduction in PSAP centers would be offset by the necessity of hiring more operators and building more facilities to compensate for the increased traffic to the surviving centers. He insisted that PSAP consolidation would not mean less demand for PSAP services.
The 9-1-1 Communications Center’s PSAP is currently the only one in Lincoln County. It serves five law enforcement agencies, four ambulance services, and 23 fire departments. It serves 35,000 year-round residents, with the population growing to 100,000 in the summer. The Center serves all towns in Lincoln County and four towns in neighboring Kennebec County.
According to Pellerin, $500,000 has been invested in the Center over the last three years, three quarters of which came from taxpayers.
Pellerin, Bickford, and the rest of the PSAT shift supervisors raised a defiant tone to the proposed consolidation efforts.
“We are not willing to surrender our PSAP status,” said Bickford. “We’re the only PSAP in the county.”
