East Thuringia control center network relies on implementation of the state project

East Thuringia control center network focuses on implementing the state project

The East Thuringia control center network met again today, Wednesday. Jena's Head of Finance Benjamin Koppe and Gera's Mayor Kurt Dannenberg were delighted to welcome representatives from the districts of Greiz, Altenburger Land, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Saale-Orla-Kreis, Saale-Holzland-Kreis and the city of Weimar to the South Fire Station of the Jena Professional Fire Brigade. The primary aim of the meeting was to discuss current developments in the two regional control centers in Gera and Jena, which are continuing to grow together in their day-to-day work and are constantly intensifying this.

In the course of the control center structure reform, the East Thuringia control center network is known to be a pioneer in the further development of the control center landscape in Thuringia. Accordingly, the East Thuringia control center network continues to push for the consistent implementation of the structural reform, which will, among other things, create full redundancy of the rescue control centers in Thuringia for the first time. This also requires uniform control center technology, which is to be established as part of the state project. The state is preparing a central tender for this.

The responsible department head of the city of Jena, Benjamin Koppe, sees decisive advantages in the structural reform and says: "The rescue control centers are an important factor for the safety of the population. The control centre structural reform provides a unique opportunity to sustainably improve and harmonize the quality of the control centres in Thuringia. With the optimization of our structures and the establishment of a network control centre at the Jena and Gera locations, we are redundant, more efficient and more economical in Eastern Thuringia. The recognition by the health insurance companies as a cost bearer of the rescue service is also noticeable through the significant adjustment of the reimbursement of the control center fees. We are in the middle of the implementation phase of the overall project and are therefore currently all the more dependent on the support of the Free State."

The Mayor of Gera and Head of Finance, Security and Citizen Services, Kurt Dannenberg, adds: "The further development of the control centers is an elementary component of civil protection, which is why the East Thuringia control center network will continue to support the Free State of Thuringia with all its strength in this extensive overall project. The task now is to establish a technical center as well as the teaching and training control center of the Free State together with the regional control center in Gera under the roof of a yet-to-be-built emergency response center as quickly as possible."

Both Kurt Dannenberg and Benjamin Koppe are pushing for secure funding for this ambitious project. To this end, it is essential that the state revises the funding guidelines, which expire in January 2024, as quickly as possible. This subsidizes 70% of the investments required to upgrade the control centers. The state is providing valuable support here, which must be continued at all costs.

An upcoming milestone in the structural reform of the state is the transfer of the city of Weimar to the Erfurt regional control center. The employees of the Jena control center are providing significant support for this process to ensure the smoothest possible transition.

At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed that the East Thuringia control centre network is a successful model, as the two regional control centres in Gera and Jena are currently the first point of contact for more than 700,000 citizens in the event of medical emergencies and coordinate the emergency services of the fire departments and aid organizations in the event of fires and assistance operations. The inter-municipal cooperation between the parties involved is therefore a key component of the safety infrastructure in Eastern Thuringia.

Thilo Schütz, Kurt Danneberg, Peter Schörnig und Benjamin Koppe