Newcastle Council has unveiled a state of the art centre to coordinate the efforts of first responders across the city.
The Local Emergency Operations Centre is designed to be a flexible space allowing customer service and incident response to occur under the same roof. Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes says the centre has been a priority for a while and will assist emergency workers protect the city.
She says, "the principle here for us at council, and that $1.8 million investment into this space, is primarily to support our first responders across the board."
"From fire and rescue, police, to our welfare agencies, if we're supporting them that means our communities is best supported during an emergency."
The new centre is equipped with multiple monitoring screens, showering facilities and kitchen area.
Flexible work-spaces: the customer service area may also be used by emergency responders
Deputy Director of Operations for NSW ambulance Jordan Emery says being able to coordinate all emergency services in one place is vital when there's a major disaster in the city.
"The simple reality of having everyone in a room like this that leverages technology to share information is absolutely crucial to the success of emergency management,
"To have everyone together in this space to have the technology to be able to share the information broadly influences the timeliness of our response to different emergencies."
Jordan Emery at the Newcastle Local Emergency Operations Centre
Kitchen area of the Local Emergency Operations Centre
