Lincoln  County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the policy for the Lincoln County Rescue Task Force and authorized Emergency Management Director Casey Stevens to enter into a memo of understanding with first responders countywide to become part of the task force.

The LCRTF is a group of first responders – law enforcement, ambulance services, and fire departments – who would respond to a violent situation with multiple trauma victims, such as an active shooting situation. In other mass casualty situations, while law enforcement works to secure the scene, patients are evacuated from the “hot” zone into the “warm” or less dangerous places, where the team would assess and transport them out as quickly as possible. This involves some risk to the first responders in the warm zone, according to the policy.

Once the victims are in the “cold,” or safe, zone, other non-task force EMS personnel would treat those who could wait for transport, and load those who need an emergency room immediately.

Several agencies are interested in serving on the task force, Stevens said.

Register of Probate Catherine Moore said the names of those who had gone through probate from 1760 to the present are now available online.  While the records are not completely scanned in, people seeking records on a person can contact the office and within hours have specific files uploaded upon request.  The commissioners also approved increasing the charge for certified mail from $20 to $30 to cover costs.

Lincoln Academy has a new school resource officer. Sean Pfahler was assigned to the school when its needs changed from school hours only to other hours as well.

The commissioners approved a purchase order for a rebroadcaster installation in Somerville, which has had difficulty since the switch to the new digital system. The cost for the installation is $3,028.16. The commissioners met the new county planner, Elswyth Strassberger. A public hearing for Lincoln County Dental has been rescheduled to Sept. 17 due to an omission in the legal notice that was published in the newspaper.

Students will again be visited by Red E. Fox,  who comes to early elementary classrooms to teach children how to appropriately use 9-1-1. The mascot visited nine school districts last year, and Emily Snowman of the Communications Department, who coordinates the program, is hoping to schedule the visits earlier this school year to add more schools and work with preschools as well.