Sunapee honors New London dispatchers for vital emergency response role

When a Sunapee resident calls 911 in a crisis, the first voice is often in New London, collecting the location, calming the caller and sending the right crews before the scene is even secure.

That behind-the-scenes work was the focus of Sunapee’s April 22 Selectboard recognition of New London Communications Center, a public nod tied to National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. The town posted the recognition the same day, underscoring that the communication link is not ceremonial in a small Sullivan County emergency network. It is the first step in getting police, fire and EMS to the right place fast.

Sunapee’s Selectboard meets on the first and third Mondays of the month in the Town Office Meeting Room at 23 Edgemont Road, making the recognition part of a regular public meeting and not a one-off press release. That matters in a town that depends on shared regional systems. A call placed in Sunapee may be answered by a center serving more than one community, yet dispatchers still have to know local roads, local hazards and the response capabilities of Sunapee Fire & EMS, Sunapee Police and surrounding agencies.

The state system they work within is broad. New Hampshire’s Division of Emergency Services and Communications operates the state 911 Emergency Number System and provides instant access to police, fire and emergency medical assistance from wired, cellular and VoIP phones. It also handles call-taking, mapping, database operations, technical support and administrative work, the infrastructure that turns a caller’s panic into a coordinated response.

Sunapee’s recent incident reports show why the Selectboard’s recognition carried real weight. On Feb. 18, 2026, at 5:14 p.m., New London Communications Center took a 911 call about a person in Sunapee who was unconscious and not breathing. Dispatchers Acacia Mailloux and Madison Kricko coached CPR while toning out Sunapee Fire & EMS, New London Ambulance and Sunapee Police. The patient later regained consciousness and was transported to the hospital.

On Feb. 26, New London Dispatch automatically upgraded a Sunapee incident to a 1st Alarm Structure Fire and brought in mutual aid from New London, Newport, Springfield and New London Hospital EMS. On April 7, dispatchers began receiving multiple 911 calls about a motor vehicle collision in Georges Mills and again toned Sunapee Fire & EMS, New London Ambulance and Sunapee Police.

National Emergency Number Association calls telecommunicators “our FIRST first responders.” In Sunapee, the recent record shows why that description fits: the dispatcher is often the difference between chaos and a coordinated response in the opening seconds of an emergency.