'All they have to do is talk and do it'

Editor's note: This is one of a series of stories produced by The Lebanon Voice highlighting the need for faster medical response times in West Lebanon and the need for better recognition of aneurysms by rescue personnel nationwide

MILTON - Milton's rescue chief said on Wednesday that he and Lebanon's rescue chief have talked about establishing a mutual aid area in the section that abuts Milton but as of yet have instituted no set policy.

"We are already discussing it," said Milton Fire and Rescue Chief Nick Marique, who works full time with Lebanon Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan at the Gonic firehouse where they are both full-time Rochester firefighters working the same shift.

To implement a formal agreement the two would have to sit down and decide what streets in West Lebanon would draw the response from Milton first-responders and then simply activate the agreement.

Milton already has a similar mutual aid agreement with Farmington, which covers the Route 152 area of Milton that is far from Milton's White Mountain Highway stationhouse.

Whenever a serious medical call comes from that section of town, Milton is toned (notified) by Carroll County Dispatch. Milton rescue personnel then notify Strafford County Dispatch, which then tones Farmington Rescue which then responds directly to the event.

Milton Fire and Rescue Chief Nick Marique

With a fire call that occurs in District 6 (West Lebanon), however, it's a little different. Milton and Lebanon fire departments have a formal agreement with Sanford Regional Dispatch that tones the two towns simultaneously.

Marique said it would be possible for Milton and Lebanon rescue departments to have a similar agreement regarding rescue in which both towns would be toned simultaneously.

Meanwhile, a first responder with decades of experience who has been in high-level position at rescue and fire departments in York County told The Lebanon Voice on Tuesday that American Ambulance, which runs a private ambulance service that covers Somersworth and Berwick, also has a mutual aid agreement with York Ambulance, which maintains an ambulance in South Berwick that covers South Berwick and Rollinsford, N.H.

When a call goes out to the outskirts of Berwick that abuts South Berwick, the York Ambulance housed in South Berwick will be toned to respond because it's much closer than Somersworth where the American Ambulance is housed.

The fire and rescue veteran, who has never worked in Lebanon, asked that his name not be used due to employment concerns.

Lebanon Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan

"All the Lebanon and Milton chiefs have to do is talk and do it," he said, adding often a lack of mutual aid agreements are brought about by egos.He urged Milton and Lebanon safety officials to make it happen.

The longtime first-responder has been both a fire department captain and an assistant rescue chief in Southern Maine.

Phone calls made to York Ambulance and American Ambulance on Wednesday were not returned.