The Lincoln Fire Department is one of more than 180 agencies across Maine who have received funding from the Maine Emergency Medical Services Stabilization and Sustainability Fund.
WABI | by Alyssa Thurlow | August 7, 2025
Source: Grant gives boost to Maine’s EMS system
LINCOLN, Maine (WABI) – Maine’s EMS system has faced challenges in recent years, everything from staffing shortages to significant financial woes.
To help ease the burden, the legislature created a grant program in 2023 that’s broken down into two phases.
The Maine Emergency Medical Services Stabilization and Sustainability Fund is designed to help agencies with fiscal support.
“We are providing a level of care here that is unheard of in bigger cities, bigger towns if you will so its a pretty cool thing to be a part of,” said Captain Jake Hammond of the Lincoln Fire Department.
More than $65,000 was awarded to the Lincoln Fire Department from the fund.
“The grant funding is important because we’ve been able to stay-up to date with our technology, our gear, with our trucks, and not have such a financial burden on the local town,” said Lieutenant Aaron Correia of the Lincoln Fire Department.
More than 180 emergency transportation services statewide have received stabilization funding. Some are using it to purchase lifesaving equipment, others are using it for training.
“We’re seeing people who have already used this grant once, and there is some more funding left, so they’re going to go to advanced school or paramedic school, so we’re furthering our education in large part through the grant,” Hammond explained.
The department recently had a cardiac arrest call where the person was resuscitated.
Lincoln’s primary paramedic was tied up on another call, but several EMTs were able to respond. Three of those six EMTs had received training paid for by funds from the grant.
“It feels good to implement that training and do what I signed up to do,” said firefighter/EMT Colter Mirtes.
Mirtes says that was his first call back after getting licensed.
“Without the grant, I would not have been able to be licensed. I am glad the training was able to save somebody’s life,” he added.
Maine Emergency Medical Services Director Wil O’Neal say the payback for these taxpayer dollars is that agencies are there when you need them.
“Anytime that we see an impact like that, I want that to resonate back up to those lawmakers that made that decision to support us because as the agency articulated, we were in the right place at the right time for what we needed because we got additional support,” O’Neal said. “If we would have been left without that, they would not have been in the position to potentially make this difference so that kind of support is huge and impactful but needs to be ongoing.”
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