I'm one-sided because I was Dispatcher 296 at CMED-NH for a number of years.
CMED NH when it was started on the 1970s was ahead of its time, as were the other C-MED centers in the state. The thing with us, we pretty much controlled all the regional coordination hands on for 19 towns (in New Haven County plus Shelton). All of our radio towers were strategically located through the region. MED 10 was the "Dispatch" channel and Meds 1 through 8 were the patch / tac channels. We also experimented with MEDs 11 through 14 as additional MED Channels (which worked in my opinion). Certain MED 1 - 8 channels were repeated depending on the tower location and when we wanted them to be. Also, we could patch you to any hospital over any Med channel. So if you were in Guilford and a patient wanted to go to Griffin in Derby, we could hook up Griffin to the MED 2 tower located out in Guilford.
When things got rough with available AMR ambulances for say New Haven, we knew and coordinated all the mutual aid ambulance coming into the city from the surrounding private, volunteer and municipal services. We ran the South Central Fire Intercity (154.295 PL 107.2) roll call. We also direct dispatched for several EMS and FD agencies in the region. We did have some fun too, had to break up the chaos, except when "Peace Frog" was played over MED 10 (Blood in the Streets in the Town of New Haven) then the chaos ensued lol).
When I started working there, I was actually a City of New Haven employee, we were part of their emergency management / fire service departments for lack of an easier explanation. We were semi-autonomous because we were a regional asset and became autonomous a couple years later as a regional service of the South Central COG (some things still went through the City though as they were basically our "caretaker"). I left in 2007 when I got appointed at my current employer but stayed on part-time for a few years, working when I could. Unfortunately things changed on the administration side. Long story short, some "politicos" we'll call them for short, stuck their noses in and started counting money, "why are we paying this much for..." They also had other "special interests" connections too. Well they privatized C-MED into MECOMM with AMR and Region 2 South Central got split up between other dispatch centers covering the hospitals in our region closest to them. And laid off all my friend who still continued to provide their great service despite the odds.
And now listening to MEDCOMM, they are doing exactly what C-MED NH was established to prevent from happening. And people are starting to realize it. Unfortunately, nothing will change until the right people get involved. We were REGIONAL and CONSOLIDATED before those were the keywords in this state. People who know me, know I can be outspoken on this issue. I'm just thankful they respect my opinion because I sat in the dungeon, 20 feet under ground, looking up at a "dead persons ass" (one of our jokes) and understood what my job was. I worked with the best both in the center and out in the field. For that I grateful knowing my voice guided a lot of responders where they needed to go.
