911 Center

The program for last night's Milton Lions Club meeting was a road trip. Following dinner we drove to the nearby town of Georgetown where we were given a tour of the new 911 Center. I was not sure what to expect except that it was not what we saw. This center is the 911 Center for the entire county and is certified for excellence. Perhaps the easiest way to describe it would be a "high tech modern day civil defense command center."

This center is what I would imagine a large city to have even if it is probably smaller. I know that a whole lot of what this center is is because of the emphasis of Homeland Security. However, I like to think that it has more to do with "good old common sense'" with common sense solutions -- maximize efforts with sometimes the minimum of resources. The design of the place makes it difficult for turf wars to get in the way of solutions to the problem(s) at hand.

While I was impressed with the functionality and purpose of the center, I was blown away with the technology. It made me think of what I believe the most technical of "situation room" should be. Dispatch stations were equipped with at least six monitors, two or three keyboards and the stations were electronically adjustable to fit the operator and to allow the operator to change positions during a shift. There are several of these stations and then there is in the same room a giant monitor capable of bringing six channels at the same time. All of this was like a "Bond" movie.

It was reassuring to find out about this center. If you have the opportunity, you should visit your local center. You will appreciate more what is done there.

As an aside, I could not find a good link for the center but will update when I do.