UNITY – The Unity Volunteer Ambulance Corps has switched to a new emergency number.

The new number is (800) 660-3398 and connects with the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department.

Bruce Cook, Unity ambulance chief, said people in the seven-town area his unit serves should call the new number when an emergency ambulance is needed and the sheriff’s dispatcher will take the information and page the ambulance service.

Cook said the change was made so that volunteer ambulance dispatchers would not need to be near a phone 24 hours a day.

The towns affected are Albion, Burnham, Freedom, Knox, Thorndike, Troy and Unity.