Lincoln County Communications' new director, Tom Nelson, is less than a week into his job, but already knows what he plans to do to lead the department.

“I’m going to listen. Those people in the chairs are the professionals. I’m in awe every time I hear them handle a 9-1-1 call. Absolutely amazed.”

Nelson, of Damariscotta, and wife Christina, a preschool teacher at Coastal Kids, have three children, one at Thomas College in Waterville, and the younger two are attending Lincoln Academy.

Nelson spent a 25-year career in the Coast Guard, from which he formally retired on Sept. 1, although he had leave built up before that and had most of the summer off. “I had all summer to consider what I wanted to do next,” he said. In the Coast Guard, he worked in public safety as an emergency medical technician, in military medicine, as a flight medic, an independent duty corpsman and a medical administrator. So his experience in public safety is wide and varied, but he said he still has a lot to learn. “Dispatch is only one part of the job. We work with 31 agencies around Lincoln County.” He will coordinate with those agencies while balancing changes and suggestions that come from the 9-1-1 operators.

“I’ll be the liaison between the dispatchers and the county, and the various agencies. We all have to report, at the end of the day, to the county.”

Nelson, only on his fourth day during the interview on Monday, said that so far, he is impressed with what he’s seen. “We always have backup, and mutual aid is seamless,” he said. “Any simple 9-1-1 call involves so many moving parts. I’m a real fan of the people who do that work.”

He will attend a telecommunication course in December. In the meantime, he’ll look at what the Communications Department needs. He said working with Emergency Management is essential. “They plan for the worst case scenario, while we operate on a daily basis.” He said it is of the utmost importance to get the tower system “right” – to make sure all seven towers are communicating with one another and the agencies at all times. He also wants to bring the fire departments online with the digital system as quickly as possible.

An important focus for Nelson will be to start a Communications Advisory Committee, with representatives from different agencies at the table to discuss the challenges all the agencies face in communication. “We have to identify our top priorities,” he said.