Further steps toward control center structure reform

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, representatives of the East Thuringian regional control centers Gera and Jena met in Gera's city hall. The primary goal was to exchange information on the current status of the state project Regional Control Centers in order to establish Thuringia-wide locations that are operated jointly with neighboring counties or independent cities. In addition, further steps were defined for the establishment of an instruction and training control center of the Free State in Gera. This is to serve simultaneously as a test platform and redundancy site for the whole of Thuringia and as a branch of the State Fire Brigade and Disaster Control School.

"The fact that this important component for bundling municipal security tasks for the entire population of eastern Thuringia is to be located here in Gera is an important milestone for the implementation of the control center structure reform. We must do justice to the responsible task for this long-term project with most diverse synergy effects by the redundancies and safety structures which can be created," so the Geraer mayor and departmental head for finances, security and citizen service, Kurt Dannenberg (CDU).

A regular exchange with the responsible persons of the regional control center Jena, which are pioneers of an up-to-date danger defense center, is a substantial component for the planning of the Gera danger defense center.

Jena's head of department for finance, security and citizen services, Benjamin Koppe (CDU), adds: "The regional control centers are the first point of contact for the population in the event of an emergency. With the control center structure reform, a sustainable optimization of the control center quality and expansion of the security level in the regional authorities will be achieved in Thuringia. In recent years, Jena and Gera have consistently pushed ahead with the plan to establish a control center at two locations with maximum redundancy. Both cities therefore remain committed to the state project."

The East Thuringia control center network is a successful model because the two regional control centers in Gera and Jena currently coordinate ground-based rescue services as well as fire and assistance operations in the five East Thuringia districts and in the cities of Gera, Jena and Weimar for more than 700,000 citizens with the highest safety standards and in close coordination.