Years ago the leadership of
the town approved Chief Brooks to establish and operate the Lisbon
Communication Center. The purpose
behind this move was to mirror the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)
(receive emergency service phone calls and dispatching First Responders). This was all done because Lisbon did not
play well with others.
In order to begin, there had
to be a number for Lisbon residents to call for emergency service instead of
911. The phone number 353-2500 has been established
to serve this purpose. 911 calls go
directly to the PSAP in Androscoggin County Dispatch and all 353-2500 calls go
directly to the Lisbon Communication Center. The Lisbon
Communication Center is duplicating the effort of the PSAP. The
state of Maine has limited the number of PSAP and supports only approved PSAPs,
so the Lisbon taxpayers had to support the Lisbon Communication Center. Last year this cost was approximately
$350,000.00 of tax dollars.
Both of these units perform
the same service to the community but in a slightly different way. Lisbon
Communication Center receives call for emergency service and immediately
dispatches First Responders.
This eliminates any delay time from the time the call is received until
the First Responders are dispatch to the scene.
This is without doubt the most efficient system.
However, the PSAP is forced to take a different
path. The Town of Lisbon has required the PSAP to
transfer the information from the caller to the Lisbon Communication Center before
any First Responders can be dispatched to the scene. This is only for Lisbon. Normal PSAP procedures are the person
receiving the emergency services call immediately dispatches the local First
Responders.
Both systems when operating
in a normal mode works identically the same with the same response time between
caller and dispatching First Responders to the scene. However, the Town of Lisbon has deliberately altered the
process to justify the existence of the Lisbon Communication Center. This
duplication of work effort cost the taxpayers a great deal of tax dollars and a
portion of this cost could be returned to the taxpayers if the PSAP was allowed
to operate in the manner designed by the state.
The 353-2500 is the primary system and 911 is a secondary system.
By point is; we can save approximately $350,000.00 tax
dollars by eliminating the Lisbon Communication Center because if the town
allowed the PSAP to dispatch First Responders; the PSAP would be the most efficient
system and save the people a lot of tax dollars.
I discussed this with Chairman Bickford who told me
that the Town Council is going to put a binding Referendum Question whether or
not to keep the Lisbon Communication Center operational. Chairman Bickford
wants to wait until November so that the people can make the decision. I thought that was why we elected our
Councilors to make the right decisions for our community.
We need to allow the PSAP to do its job and
not handcuff them by forcing them to relay critical information for emergency
services causing a delay in dispatching First Responders. The entire
world is using the 911 system and it is a proven system or are we going to keep
using our tax dollars to support an additional system that does the same thing.
The bottom line is what is
best for Lisbon: 911 or 353-2500?
Larry Fillmore
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