Earlier this summer, a buddy invited Joseph McCole on a sailboat trip from Norfolk, Virginia, to Quebec. Engine trouble delayed the start. They got as far as the Catskills before turning the boat over to someone else to take it the rest of the way.

“It was a good adventure,” McCole recalled Sept. 9, midway through his first week as Wiscasset Ambulance Service’s interim director.

Like the boat trip, the temp job was an unexpected turn this summer for the paramedic, retired Bath firefighter, world traveler and former Bath Iron Works welder.

McCole, 51, of West Bath, agreed to take the Wiscasset job for up to 90 days, following the resignation of Director Roland Abbott. McCole wants to get the membership up to a full, stable roster, but doesn’t want to change much else at the department, for a couple of reasons. For one, the place is running itself, a testament to the dedication of the staff, he said.

In addition, making a lot of changes now might box the new director in; the person may have their own ideas, McCole said. Instead, he wants to help lay the groundwork for the next person, by getting staff members’ suggestions for the department.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for them to have a bit of control over their own destiny here and some ownership into the way the department decides to go.” He is letting the crews know that the discussion is open and any suggestion anyone makes will be considered.

“We’re rebuilding, and everything has to be looked at.”

The 1983 graduate of Morse High School in Bath has set just one ground rule for the members: “I am not going to enter into any conversation about Mr. Abbott. It (wouldn’t) push the department ahead.

“He’s served his community and (director) is not an easy job,” McCole said.

He is willing to stay longer than three months if a new director hasn’t been found, but he is not interested in the permanent job. Interim work suits his strength of coming in and helping, he said.

“I’m like the relief pitcher. I consider this a really cool project. I hope to be able to contribute and help bring the crews together and help them find a new direction.

“Someone more oriented toward long-term planning and thinking can take over from there.”

McCole was an interim fire captain in Bath but didn’t seek that permanent job either. He knew he was about to retire and didn’t want the department to have to go through the hiring process again.

Although the Wiscasset post wasn’t in his summer plans, nearly three decades in emergency work got him used to the unexpected, he said. His service also gave him an appreciation for the continual training that crew members undergo and the hazards they face on their calls, from violence to a patient’s vomit, he said.

The Wiscasset department has a core staff of committed members, McCole said. He hopes residents will continue to show support for them in the coming months.

McCole wasn’t sure when he might read the copy that Town Manager Marian Anderson gave him of consulting firm Tideview Group’s June report on the department. The firm found issues with leadership, the facility and recruitment, but reported that residents and medical professionals like the care the ambulance service provides.

“There may be value in not reading it,” McCole said. That way, he can offer Anderson his own perspective based on his involvement with emergency departments in Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg, Georgetown, Orr’s and Bailey islands, Harpswell and Cundy’s Harbor.

“Whatever trends I’ve seen may not even be in here,” he said with Tideview Group’s report in front of him. “And I kind of want to present her with what I’ve seen happen with the other agencies that I work with.”

McCole wants to spend most of his time outside the office, working alongside the crew members. Members interviewed cited McCole’s extensive experience as a plus for the department to have during the transition. They were thankful that he arrived quickly to help; and they said they appreciate his request for their input.

“I guess it’s our time to step up and shine, and move forward,” emergency medical technician (EMT) Tanya Bailey said.

“We welcome him aboard,” fellow EMT Dickey Brigance said.