LAFD's 9-1-1 Dispatch Center Made Historical Move

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Los Angeles Fire Department's (LAFD) dispatch center, known for it's motto, "It all starts here", made a historic move on February 28th, 2012. During the early morning hours of February 28, 2012, 9-1-1 call taking and resource dispatching moved locations from the Operations Control Division (OCD) at City Hall East to the new Metropolitan Fire Communications (MFC) facility at 500 E. Temple Street.

Now that the the transition to MFC is complete, OCD has become the Department's back-up dispatching facility and the radio call sign "OCD" is no longer operative. At one in the morning, the strategically planned five hour radio transfer was made. Now, all inbound and outbound radio transmissions will use the call sign, "Metro." No other changes to radio terminology, resource dispatch algorithms, or operations will occur.

In addition, LAFD's Public Service Office (PSO) made the same geographical migration. Matt Spence, Brian Humphrey, and Erik Scott sincerely appreciate the patience of all during this exciting and elaborate transition, as they have had decreased availability at times. As for members of the media, the phone number for the PSO EPI-Center will remain the same, for the time being. We and look forward to better serving you from our new location.

Construction of the Metro Fire Communications facility which includes Fire Station 4 and the City's Emergency Operations Center, began on January 19, 2006 as part of Prop "F" funding. Although the 120,000 square foot facility has been up and running for the past couple of years, the Metro Fire Communications sophisticated 9-1-1 telephone and dispatch equipment installation was just recently completed.

The move to the new Metro Fire Communications facility involves many City agencies, Vendors, and private contractors. Planning for the actual transition from City Hall East to the MFC has been in the works for the last several months, which includes the training of dispatchers and staff for familiarization of new state of the art equipment. As of February 29, 2012, the Coldwater back-up dispatch center will no longer be operational. The Department appreciates your interest and cooperation in this historic move.

Some have said that the common ending radio transmission, "OCD Clear", now takes on a new meaning.

Republished with permission of the Los Angeles Fire Department. View original article here.