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New 911 center prepares for opening
An artist's rendering of the new Cabell County 911 building. It will be located near the intersection of Norway Avenue and Gallaher Street in Huntington. It will house the countyÕs emergency dispatch center and its emergency operations center.
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HUNTINGTON -- The new year will bring a new building and revolutionary changes to Cabell County 911 and the county's emergency operations.
The new facility, now under construction, is located near Norway Avenue and Gallaher Street in southeast Huntington.
Officials hope to begin operations at the new site in late January or early February, said J.R. VanOoteghem, assistant director of Cabell County 911.
The estimated 12,500-square-foot building is the product of about three years of design, consultation and construction. It will house an expanded 911 dispatch room at its core. The dispatch room will be surrounded by several offices, two bunk rooms, an exercise room, an equipment room and a dedicated emergency operations center.
VanOoteghem estimates the total price tag will range between $9 million and $10 million. It will move operations from an older building at 830 8th Ave. The current location has limited space that prevents physical or technological expansion, and nearby railroad tracks present inherent risks.
"We're in a very, very poor location right now," he said. "We built the (new) building to be functional, to meet our needs now and in the future. We didn't come up with a random design. The layout, right down to every light switch and outlet, was designed with a purpose and reason."
VanOoteghem said the design process involved local officials touring 911 centers in Orlando; Pittsburgh; Covington, Va.; and Charlotte, N.C. The finished product will offer many technological advances and security features to protect the building and its occupants.
"This is where every emergency (response) in this county generally starts," he said. "We are the heart of emergency services in this county. So this building has to be secure. It has to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week in any condition, any kind of weather. Through sickness and in health, it has to operate."
Cabell County 911 will pay for the building and contents with money from its budget, along with a $7 million loan. The facility operates on revenue generated by fees attached to local phone service. Future revenues will pay off the loan.
VanOoteghem estimates the agency's operational costs will increase $30,000 annually. That figure includes increased utilities and the loan payment. The agency also hopes to add three dispatcher positions to its payroll. It currently employs 31 dispatchers and five administrators.
Cabell County 911 has occupied the 8th Avenue location since 1998. Before that, it was located in the basement of Huntington City Hall.
The agency's call volume increases by about 2,000 calls each year. In 2007, the dispatchers answered 304,013 emergency and nonemergency calls.
Those telephone calls soon will be answered in a much larger room. The new dispatch room will provide 10 workstations, three more than the current facility.
The extra spots will allow administrators to hire call takers. That's a foreign concept to local dispatchers, who currently find themselves answering calls and dispatching emergency crews to the scene. VanOoteghem said that amounts to double-duty that reduces efficiency and lessens the quality of service. VanOoteghem said current software will allow information to be passed from call taker to dispatcher without a lapse in communication.
The room promises to be a technological marvel. Its raised ceiling will allow for three 100-inch projection screens. Each of those screens can be divided four ways to give dispatchers constant access to 12 screens of information. The possibilities include sharing internal documents, along with weather maps, news channels, Web sites and live surveillance video of vehicle traffic and crime issues.
The technological advances position Cabell County 911 to evolve in its rapidly changing industry. VanOoteghem said dispatchers must be equipped to accept emergency text messages, much like today's 911 telephone calls. He sees a time when today's callers will simply resort to sending a text message. He also believes today's callers will send video or photographs from the scene. The visuals will provide dispatchers better information.
"With our current technology, we are not able to adapt to any future advances," he said. "It's our responsibility to be able to accept calls for assistance in any way, shape or form possible. That is evolving in text messages, cell phones, Voice-over-Internet Protocol, and satellite phones are becoming cheaper now."
Local amateur radio enthusiasts also will have a place in the larger building. VanOoteghem said those volunteers provide important on-scene information during major incidents.
The county's new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be adjacent to the dispatch room. The room will be utilized for major events, such as natural disasters or chemical spills.
Gordon Merry, the county's EOC director, said the new room will be more user friendly. The current location doubles as a training facility. He believes training courses will be taught at the 8th Avenue and Gallaher Street locations.
Merry and VanOoteghem explained the EOC provides a place for officials to gather and coordinate. It will feature rows of workspace much like a university lecture hall. Pop-up computer screens will be built into the first row. Laptop computer connections will be throughout. The workstations will face a 100-inch projection screen centered between two 65-inch LCD screens. The walls will be covered in a white board material, suitable for easy writing and erasing.
"If that is activated, you're going to have a lot of information coming at you from a lot of different ways," VanOoteghem said. "We want to make sure we can effectively convey that information."
The occupants will face the EOC's Command Room when they turn around. It's a feature not present at 8th Avenue. The Command Room will resemble a board room with an oval table and video conference board. It will welcome dignitaries in times of trouble. They will communicate with officials in other counties or at the state emergency headquarters in Charleston.
A wall and glass window will separate the noisy EOC from the Command Room. The window glass will frost over when complete privacy is requested. VanOoteghem said the two rooms could be a regional hub in times of widespread crisis.
The complex also comes with a media platform located just inside the main entrance. It's the place officials will gather to host press conferences to communicate with the public. Underground conduits will extend from the platform to broadcast news trucks parked outside.
VanOoteghem said all the technological preparations must be protected, and for that reason designers included everything from outdoor barriers to wellness initiatives inside. The forethought forced designers to balance financial responsibility with every possible scenario.
The building will be surrounded by concrete walls and fencing topped with double-strain barbed wire. Concrete planters will beautify the front entrance, but their purpose will be to block potential attackers from crashing into the building. The building's receptionist will be protected by a bullet-proof wall and window.
Designers also planned the building's interior to protect the most sensitive area -- the dispatch room. They purposely located it in the center of the building. That isolates it from potential gunshots and other issues. Natural light will flow through windows high atop the room near its ceiling.
Designers also planned for natural disasters. The building is topped with six inches of concrete. VanOoteghem explained the heavy-duty roof will protect the building from icicles that fall from its neighboring 190-foot tower. That tower will transport radio communications to a tower at Rotary Park. From there communications can be spread throughout the county.
The building even has a seismic rating for the rare, minor earthquake. Battery backups, a massive generator and fuel tank protect against the more routine power outage. VanOoteghem estimates the alternate power sources will operate the facility for one month. Two fiber lines will ensure constant phone service to the building, even if phone service is interrupted throughout the city.
VanOoteghem said protecting the occupants goes beyond securing the building. The facility also provides for their well being. Officials hope the exercise room will promote general wellness, while constant airflow will reduce the spread of illness. He estimates new air will circulate into the dispatch room every five minutes.
The dispatcher workstations will provide each employee with the choice of standing up or sitting down. They also will have ergonomic chairs. Those precautions are especially important for dispatchers tasked with sitting for long periods of time. VanOoteghem said the profession can lead to various injuries.
Two bunk rooms will provide sleeping quarters for up to 10 emergency personnel during major events. Administrators will keep the bunk areas locked at all other times.
The building is constructed on a slope. Most of the equipment needed to power and sustain operations will be housed in a first-floor equipment room, along with a sub-basement in the building's front portion.
The main contractor for the building is E.P. Leach & Sons Inc. of Huntington.
