Control center in Jena takes over tasks for Saalfeld-Rudolstadt

With a symbolic push of a button on Wednesday, Jena's Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche and Saalfeld-Rudolstadt District Administrator Marko Wolfram launched the joint future of the Jena regional control center. From July 2, 2021, this will also take over the processing of emergency calls from the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district in addition to the Jena emergency calls and those from the Saale-Holzland district. This marks the end of a two-year integration process to take over data and personnel from the previous control center in Saalfeld.

In May 2019, a majority of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district council decided to have the regional control center in Jena dispatch emergency services, general assistance and fire and disaster control operations in future. The move was necessary due to the termination of the control centre cooperation by the Saale-Orla district, but also due to the state concept for optimizing the control centre structure, which would have meant considerable costs for the modernization of the location in Saalfeld.

A report commissioned by the districts of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Saale-Orla, which compared the possible scenarios for the continuation of the tasks of the Saalfeld control center, recommended a move to Jena in 2017. At almost the same time, the state report also recommended that the Saalfeld control center be dissolved and that dispatching for the Saale-Orla district be handled by the Gera control center, while dispatching for the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district be handled by the Jena control center.

In July 2019, Lord Mayor Dr. Nitzsche and District Administrator Wolfram concluded a corresponding special-purpose agreement for future cooperation. The launch of the new regional control center, originally planned for the beginning of 2021, was delayed to 2 July due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the takeover of the Saale-Orla district by the Gera control center at the beginning of this year, the state's target of reducing Eastern Thuringia by one control center location has already been achieved.

"The fact that we were well ahead of the times with the control center network in Eastern Thuringia was recognized by the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Municipal Affairs in particular by the fact that it fully supported our concept of a regional control center with two redundant locations," explains Mayor Nitzsche, who is now also waiting for the promised funding.

"The confidence in our technical expertise is evident from the planned control center in Eastern Thuringia. The cost bearers of the rescue service - the health insurance companies - must now recognize this all the more clearly by paying an adequate control centre fee," added District Administrator Wolfram, who thanked his employees for shaping the integration process.

Nine colleagues from the Saalfeld control center are moving to Jena, two to the Saale-Orla district and two to retirement, while one employee will return to the district office in the Office for Civil Protection. Wolfram, together with District Administrator Thomas Fügmann from the Saale-Orla district, had issued an employment guarantee for all employees at the beginning of the discussion about the future of the Saalfeld control center.

"We have kept our word for all 14 dispatchers and found solutions," said Wolfram. "I am very pleased that we are not only able to give our existing employees good prospects. The fact that so many are moving to the most modern control center in Thuringia in Jena means that our colleagues' many years of experience will not be lost," said a delighted District Administrator Marko Wolfram.

State Secretary Udo Götze, who was also present at the symbolic transfer of responsibility for the emergency calls of the Saalfeld/Rudolstadt district, was visibly impressed: "Eastern Thuringia has already achieved goals that only seemed feasible in the coming years. This impressively demonstrates how effective and efficient goal-oriented inter-municipal cooperation can be. This will be decisive for many areas in the future."

The technical requirements and professional prerequisites, particularly in terms of personnel, should not be underestimated. "The fact that there are now also positive economic effects was one of the secondary objectives, which was always the focus alongside the increase in safety standards for all citizens," says Benjamin Koppe, Head of Finance, underlining the positive effects of the control center network. However, it was clear to all those present that this can only be seen after taking a closer look at the extensive calculations, which show the prudent but targeted investments in state-of-the-art technology made in recent years.

"We will continue to seek synergy effects together in the future," Thomas Nitzsche concluded the event, referring in particular to the training association, the fire department center and the joint negotiations with the health insurance companies on a unified control center fee, which are planned for the first time this year.