COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new 911 dispatch center for the Metropolitan Emergency Communication Center (MECC) opened Tuesday.
Leaders say bringing Gahanna police dispatch in the same room as fire dispatch for Plain Township, Jefferson Township, Whitehall, Truro Township, and Violet Township, will get people help faster in emergencies.
Mifflin Township bought the building two years ago, which used to be the operations center for the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
Tuesday started a new chapter for the building and with the use of state-of-the-art facility for emergency responses.
“It's all about service delivery and speeds. We know when it comes to 911, and handling 911 calls, seconds save lives. This eliminates transfers between police and fire, puts everyone in the room. It also leverages a lot of state-of-the-art technology and brand new 911 call handling system that we share,” said Gahanna Police Chief Jeff Spence.
“One of the highlights for me is the joint operations. Before we were in this building that we are in today, we had our dispatchers in separate locations. Police dispatchers were in one building, fire dispatchers were in another building. They are now currently sharing this facility,” said Jeff Wright, Deputy Chief Mifflin Township Division of Fire.
Fire dispatchers move into the new space next week.