May 10, 2024
PARKERSBOURG — Officials tentatively plan to open Wood County’s new 911 in early August.
Wood County officials, representatives from WVU Medicine’s Camden Clark Medical Center, Camden Clark Ambulance Service, St. John’s Ambulance Service, and S. Joseph and others toured the 18,000-square-foot facility at the former Suddenlink construction near Interstate 77 and U. S. 50 Thursday morning.
Wood County 911 Director Mike Shook said they hope to “flip the switch” on Aug. 1 to move operations to the new center, from where they were at the old 911 center on Core Road. However, this will affect the implementation of the construction. Systems.
Much of the building’s furnishings are expected to arrive in June. An antenna network will soon be installed at the site, as well as the building’s specialized telephone system.
“We’re waiting our turn,” Shook said of the installation of the phone, which is being done through a company in the southern U. S. and will take place in June and July and, in all likelihood, August.
Visitors saw other offices, the education domain, the emergency operations center, the dispatch room, the server room, the garage domain, and more. The county’s voting machines are planned to be stored at the facility, along with evidence that Wood’s county district attorney will have to keep other records and much more. Local radio amateurs will also have a booth in the construction to operate if a scenario arises where they will be used to perform emergency communications.
They saw the distribution room with the consoles from which the dispatchers will work. The corridor currently has eight computer-aided dispatch stations (CADS) set up, in addition to the six that Wood County 911 has been using lately on Core Road.
Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard said they have room to place five more CADs in the dispatch room if needed.
Statewide discussions have been underway about pooling spaces at statewide regional 911 centers, officials said, adding that many surrounding counties could be dispatched from the center if the state chooses that route.
There are plans to have 10 active CADS in position through the time of opening, Woodyard said.
Shook said they would place the other three DACs elsewhere in the structure in case they are in some other COVID-like situation where other people might have to distance themselves from each other in order to conduct operations.
A 911 help center is planned for the Wood County Resiliency Center. Until the center is complete, the backup will be at the Core Road facility.
The new center will be three times larger than the existing Core Road center, the apparatus is and dispatchers will have multiple screens to work with, dispatchers will be more spread out and open spaces will be an improvement for them, Shook said.
First, officials expected the center to be up and running until the end of May, but some issues had to be resolved as a result of inspections conducted through the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office. Officials were under the impression that other inspectors had noticed other things, which delayed their ability to occupy the building. The county now has its certificate of occupancy and is moving forward with the finishing touches on the building.
“Lately we’re at the mercy of suppliers,” Shook said.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel. com
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