Knowing the right questions to ask is important; for communications officers it can be a matter of life and death.

The Lincoln County Communications Department has offered to be a test site for proposed new software that addresses fire and law enforcement-related emergencies throughout the state. The protocols outlined in this software are standardized questions that guide officers through each conversation they have with 911 callers.

Officers throughout the state use an Emergency Medical Dispatch system created by Priority Dispatch Corporation that addresses every possible medical-related emergency officers may encounter. In 2007, the state mandated this system for all call centers in Maine and officers are required to know how to use it.

Lincoln County Communications was among the first to use the emergency medical protocols, according to Communications Supervisor Joe Westrich. Theirs was also a testing center for mapping software that identifies callers on a map. This helps officers tell emergency personnel in the field about location, terrain and nearby landmarks.

There is no unified system for law enforcement and fire-related emergencies; officers instead use their experience and many of the same questions to get the “who, what, when and where” of each emergency.

An independent report submitted in February to the Emergency Services Bureau of the Public Utilities Commission offers recommendations for applying the proposed new fire and law-related protocols to all dispatch and Public Safety Answering Points throughout the state. The 36-page report, submitted by Mission Critical Partners of Texas, outlines potential costs and implementation options for Maine.

In his report to Lincoln County Commissioners on Aug. 21, Emergency Management director Tod Hartung said his department would like to be the first to try out the new protocols. The state's Enhanced 9-1-1 Advisory Council is hesitant to mandate new protocols after hearing from some fire and law enforcement officials, Hartung said.

Using the report's recommendations, the council is weighing different options for implementing such a system. The council is expected to make a recommendation to the Emergency Services Bureau following their next meeting in October.

“I think it would be an enhancement to what we do now,” Westrich said, adding that a unified system offered through the same company would provide consistency across the entire state.

Implementing the system for both fire and law-related emergencies all at once is estimated to cost just under $4 million, according to the report. The recommendation is to phase-in such a system over a fixed number of years, which, “may be logistically and financially more realistic.”

Officers train every day and review information in the Emergency Medical Dispatch handbook. They go through a monthly Quality Assurance review to ensure accuracy. Josiah Winchenbach, who is a volunteer firefighter for Jefferson and has medical experience, said much of the training they have had for medical protocols would “bridge” to the other systems.

Below is a recording of 911 dispatchers paging local first responders to an emergency scene.