Mass. 9-1-1 Comms Center May Move

Jan. 23--MIDDLETON -- A communications center that connects hospitals and ambulances during medical emergencies in 59 communities could be moving from Lawrence to Middleton.

The NorthEast Central Medical Emergency Direction Center, which has been operating out of Lawrence General Hospital since the 1970s, is considering a move to the Essex County Regional Emergency Communications Center in Middleton.

The central medical emergency center, or C-Med, is one of four such centers in the state required by law to serve as a communications link between ambulances and hospitals.

The center manages ambulance and paramedic traffic from accident scenes to emergency departments and "assures an even distribution of patients based on severity of illness, geography and available resources," according to the Lawrence General Hospital website. It is also a "central resource" for coordinated emergency response during natural disasters or other large-scale incidents.

The NorthEast center has handled as many as 100,000 calls per year, said Jonathan Brickett, executive director of the non-profit company that runs the center. It has three people on duty during the day and two at night.

Brickett said the center operates out of a "fairly small space" in a room inside Lawrence General Hospital and was considering a move as part of a plan to update its equipment.

The state hired a consultant last year to study the feasibility of moving the C-Med center to Middleton. Brickett said C-Med is evaluating its operation and said the move is "not on our radar right now."

If the move does happen, the C-Med operation would become the third function performed at the Essex County Regional Emergency Communications Center, which opened in 2011 next to the Middleton jail.

The RECC, as it is known, answers 911 cell phone calls made in Essex County, northern Middlesex County, and three communities in Suffolk County, as well as all emergency 911 calls for Amesbury, Essex, Middleton, Topsfield and Wenham. It opened in 2011 next to the Middleton jail.

Alyson Dell Isola, assistant director for administration at the RECC, said the center would welcome the C-Med center.

"They would be a great addition," she said.

(c)2017 The Salem News (Beverly, Mass.)