Over 30 Years Of Service
1980’s
1986
An agreement was reached between the Kanawha County Commission and the City of Charleston to form a consolidated Emergency 911 Center, known as the Metro Emergency Operations Center. The consolidation allowed for better coordination of manpower and equipment, insuring a fast and accurate response to any emergency.
1987
Basic 911 was available in Kanawha County consisting of a 911 telephone number feed and radio communications with field units. The Metro Emergency Operations Center was staffed by both city and county personnel with a total of 29 employees
1988
The first Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system went live in Kanawha County. Metro was the first county in the State of West Virginia to have a CAD system. The original CAD was a network of computers that transferred information taken by a call taker to a dispatcher, kept track of emergency responders in the field and stored information from calls for statistical use.
1989
Enhanced 911 was provided to Kanawha County by the phone company. Enhanced 911 allowed for the callers address to appear on a screen along with their phone number. This vital information enabled the call takers to verify the caller’s location. An accurate location allows for a prompt response of emergency personnel.
1990’s
1994
Legislation was adopted requiring certification standards for all emergency operations centers. This legislation helped to ensure that the quality of emergency dispatching was consistent throughout the country, regardless of where you lived. All of our employees are nationally certified through the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and trained to provide you with the best service.
1998
The Metro Emergency Operations Center moved from joint management by Kanawha County and the City of Charleston to the leadership of an independent Board. The Board consists of representatives from the community including various emergency services, government and industry/business leaders as well as a Metro 911 employee representative.
2000’s
2004
After years of consolidation, all agencies within Kanawha County are dispatched from the Metro Emergency Operations Center, incorporating 32 fire departments, 22 police departments and 2 EMS agencies.
2005
The Ned Chilton 911 Center and G. Kemp Melton Emergency Operations Center opened, moving employees to South Ridge from the cramped 1,000 square foot 911 center in Charleston’s City Hall. The new facility was designed with safety, innovation and modernization in mind.
2007
The communications center was dedicated to W. Kent Carper due to his continued support and dedication to emergency communications in Kanawha County.
2009
The Kanawha County Addressing Project was successfully completed, which began in 2004 as part of the Statewide Addressing & Mapping Project. This project was responsible for making sure that all residential and commercial structures were addressed in accordance with modern public safety addressing standards.
2010’s
2010
Metro Emergency Operations Center implemented an Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) program. EMD is a systematic program of handling medical calls for assistance. Each dispatcher in Kanawha County is trained, using locally-approved EMD guide cards so they can quickly and properly determine the medical emergency and give the caller instructions to help treat the patient until the responding units arrive.
2013
New World Systems, a mapping based Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system went live in Kanawha County. The mapping based CAD allows dispatchers to quickly process calls and send first responders to the appropriate location.
2014
Text-to-911 was launched in Kanawha County, the first county in West Virginia to offer the additional service. The ability to text 911 is helpful for citizens that are hard of hearing, deaf or speech impaired. The service is also beneficial in situations when a voice call would endanger the caller or a caller is unable to speak due to a medical condition.