Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Consolidation could lead to delays
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Future of emergency dispatch unclear
Critics say consolidation of 9-1-1 call centers could lead to delays in services, response times
By Leslie Bridgers
Staff writer
FARMINGTON — Emergency calls in Franklin County soon could be answered by dispatchers as far away as Bangor.
County officials hope a plea to the Public Utilities Commission will prevent that from happening.
State legislators have directed the commission to consolidate the number of communications centers that directly handle 911 calls. With one of the lowest call volumes in the state, the Franklin County public-safety answering point is at risk of getting cut.
Officials met in a Franklin County District Court room Monday morning to consider how to make sure the communications center stays.
“It’s about lives. It’s not about money,” said state Rep. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton.
If the Franklin public-safety answering point is eliminated, the county wouldn’t lose its dispatchers altogether, but emergency calls first would be answered at another center, then transferred to the county dispatch.
Now, when a 911 call comes into the communications center, information about the caller’s location immediately appears on monitors in front of the dispatchers.
Not having access to that information is one of the things officials said upsets them most about losing the service.
“If they want to explain to someone in Augusta where they are in Freeman Township, forget it. Might as well dig a hole right there,” Saviello said at the meeting.
The additional time it takes to transfer a call was another of their concerns.
“In a lot of cases, a few minutes makes a big difference,” said Rangeley Fire Chief Rudy Davis.
Stan Wheeler, a dispatcher at the Franklin County center, described a recent situation in which his ability to track a caller’s location was crucial to the rescue.
A woman and her daughter had gotten lost while riding an ATV in Chesterville. By talking to her while she was on her cell phone, Wheeler said, he could watch her movement on the monitor. She had been walking the wrong way to get to safety, and he was able to point her in the right direction.
Clyde Ross, chairman of the Franklin County Regional Radio Committee, explained after the meeting that, by losing designation as a public-safety answering point, the center loses the mapping equipment. That’s how the state could save money through the consolidation effort.
Ross said the state’s communication equipment needs to be updated soon, and, with fewer answering points, there would be less equipment to replace.
Though the state might realize savings through consolidation, Ross said, costs would increase for county taxpayers. The county would still have to pay for its dispatchers, and, in addition, would have to pay a per-capita fee to whichever answering point is handling the emergency calls.
“If anyone thinks this is going to save us money, it isn’t,” said Melinda Caton, the county’s dispatch supervisor.
Last year, Franklin County handled about 9,000 emergency calls, which is the fifth-lowest call volume of the state’s 26 public-safety answering points. Legislators have asked the commission to eliminate about 10 of those call centers.
“All they are about is numbers,” said Wilton Police Chief Dennis Brown. “We’re going to lose that argument.”
Brown said, in expressing their concern to the commission, people need to show evidence, aside from call volume, of how the center is critical to the public safety of county residents.
Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike said, while the number of emergency calls might be among the state’s lowest, the area from which the calls are received is one of the largest.
“You’re looking at 40 square miles versus 1,600 square miles,” Pike said about the difference between coverage of communications centers in Cumberland County and the one in Franklin.
“We have a lot more people lost in Franklin County than in the city of Portland,” he said.
Rangeley Town Manager Perry Ellsworth urged people at the meeting to talk to residents about the potential loss the county is facing and tell them to write to the commission about their concerns.
“You might find stories where dispatch saved their life,” Ellsworth said. “If you start telling those stories, it has an impact, probably more than the town manager writing a letter.”
The Public Utilities Commission is accepting feedback about the consolidation plan through July 12. The commission is scheduled to present a finalized plan to the Legislature in November.
Leslie Bridgers — 861-9252
lbridgers@centralmaine.com
MAINE PUC seeking input on consolidating 911 centers
FARMINGTON — The state is seeking public comment on a plan that will winnow down the number of emergency communication centers from 26 to about 17, with the stated goal of providing better response at a lower cost.
However, some local public safety officials say consolidation of Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs, that would reroute 911 calls to large, regional communications centers could increase response time, affect service and cost more.
The Public Utilities Commission and the Emergency Services Communications Bureau have set a July 12 deadline for this round of comments that will be included in a report that will go to the Legislature's Utilities and Energy Committee by Nov. 1. The Legislature is expected to take up the issue during its next session.
In a recent study commissioned by the PUC, L. R. Kimball Associates, a firm specializing in emergency-911 design and public safety consolidation, found the optimum PSAP configuration in Maine would be 15 to 17 full-service, regionally-located centers.
The ramifications of reducing the number of PSAPS, especially in large, geographically-diverse, remote and rural areas, has some officials worried.
“My biggest concern is for the safety of the people in Oxford County,” said James Miclon, director of the Oxford County Communications Center.
The Paris-based operation is one of the busiest county PSAPs in Maine and handles about 60, 911-calls a day, he said.
“If some other location answers our calls and then transfers them to us to dispatch fire, law enforcement or EMS (emergency medical services), we will lose valuable time in getting first responders out as quickly as possible and with the correct information,” he said.
“I would encourage individuals and officials to submit comments and answer whatever questions they can,” he said.
Franklin County Chief Deputy Raymond Meldrum agreed.
“It would be very detrimental to the people of Franklin County if we did not have a PSAP here,” he said.
“Our people are far better able to provide for the needs of this region. We have an efficient and well-trained staff that is familiar with this area,” he said.
He also predicted there would be no cost savings to the people of Franklin County if the PSAP was eliminated.
“We would still need a call center to dispatch fire, police and ambulance from here but we wouldn't have the mapping, callback numbers, and the information screens we have now,” he said. “There would be a time delay in response.”
Under the current system, PSAP dispatchers at the 26 centers across the state take 911 calls, gather basic information and then either reroute the caller to a local public safety agency to dispatch rescue services or directly send out needed personnel as they do in Oxford and Franklin counties now.
Last week, the PUC opened its public inquiry period and asked local and county officials with a stake in the emergency dispatch system to answer 18 detailed questions.
The responses will become part of the case file and will be used to help the agency develop a consolidation plan, according to a press release.
Among the questions are ideas on developing PSAP selection criteria; incentives to encourage voluntary PSAP consolidation; ways to curb PSAP “rate shopping”; and suggestions on addressing the fragmented dispatch and PSAP services.
While the questions seek in-depth responses from those in the field, PUC spokeswoman Evelyn deFrees said anyone with an interest in how emergency services are provided in their community is invited to submit a comment.
“The commission considers all the material filed in a case. We need to be specific in what we ask because we were directed by the Legislature to come up with a plan with a deadline attached to it, but we are a public agency and this is a public process. Our rules are to invite comments from those who are interested,” she said.
According to the PUC, in 2009, Franklin County's PSAP received 9,110 emergency calls; Oxford County's center received 19,309 calls; and the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office PSAP received 8,569.
Also, the Lewiston/Auburn Emergency Communications System had 31,479 calls and the multi-county Somerset County Regional Communications Center in Skowhegan received 25,256.
The Kimball report found that a reduction in PSAPs may result in cost-savings to the state's Emergency 911 system and to the communities that consolidate PSAP and dispatch services into regional, full-service communications centers.
However, it stated the primary motivation for consolidation is improvement in service, better response time and fewer chances for human or technology errors.
“Quicker call processing and dispatch times results in faster, on-scene times for field personnel,” according to the report.
The complete notice of inquiry document, the Kimball report, and all filed comments may be found at www.maine.gov/mpuc.
