The Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency previewed its new emergency operations center (EOC) on Thursday evening, July 19.

Local public safety members and other invited guests toured the facilities in the county courthouse at 32 High St. in Wiscasset.

The EOC has been organized as a command center for emergencies and disasters so EMA officials can better manage resources and have greater awareness of situations through multiple and redundant communications.  

Planning for the center began early in 2017 and construction started last January.  “We haven’t had anything as robust as this,” EMA Director Casey Stevens said. “For example, during the windstorm last October, we had a smaller area upstairs and just basic office telephones and one radio.”

Although budgeted at $30,000 for construction and communications, Stevens said the cost "did not come close to that.”

The center has a large central room, staff offices, kitchen and bathroom facilities and two other rooms. Two large screens on the wall of the main room provide continuous access to the internet.  

The center can accommodate up to 10 people. “If we had to, some of us could stay here throughout an emergency,” Stevens added.

Rooms have also been equipped so that radio communications with local public safety, fire departments, EMS and the local EMA directors can continue in an emergency.

“It was set up to follow the functions,” Stevens explained.  The separate phone rooms ensure EMA staff in the main room aren't distracted by radio communications.  

Stevens explained, the better equipped center is needed so tEMA “can be prepared for all hazards.”

County EMA staff keep a sharp eye out for potential emergencies and constant monitoring occurs within the EOC. Level one is normal. Levels 2-4 are for increasingly dire situations which can range from advance notice of a possible hazard to full activation in a hurricane or blizzard.

In addition to constant monitoring, EMA offers 24/7 response from its Haz-Mat Decon Strike, Search and Rescue and HAM radio teams. It also assembles and convenes the local emergency planning committee which meets quarterly.