STONINGTON, Conn. -- Three dispatch centers handle emergencies in one shoreline town. While local leaders look for ways to consolidate them, one ambulance company is going outside the town to manage its emergency calls.

In Stonington, there are six fire companies, three ambulance companies and one police department. However, three dispatch centers manage all of the emergency calls. Without impacting safety, the town is looking at how it can manage them better.

Starting January 1, Stonington ambulance will go outside the town to Groton to manage their emergency calls.

The Stonington Ambulance Company is now handling more than 400 calls a year.

The debate about consolidating the dispatch centers has been dragging on for years.

Of the six fire departments in town, the Pawcatuck Fire Department is dispatched by Westerly, R.I., while the one in Stonington Village and Old Mystic are dispatched by Groton.

Groton’s dispatch center is larger, with four full time dispatchers. It will cost the town of Stonington $8,000 in the first year to transfer Stonington Ambulance Company’s calls to the Groton dispatch center.