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This Friday, September 11th, the Tioga County 911 Center will host the grand opening of their new facilities. The grand opening takes place at 99 William Farrell Drive in Wellsboro. The event starts at 1:30pm with an opening ceremony, followed by tours that take place every hour beginning at 2:00pm, with the final tour at 6:00pm. Those interested in taking one of the tours are encouraged to call 570 -724 -9110 to pre-register. Handicap access is also available.

Today the Director of the 911 Center, David Cohick, spoke to WHP about the new call center. Cohick, with a 30-year history in emergency services, commented on the many benefits the complex and its new technology offer the community. Construction of the building took over a year, a timeframe which allowed for careful consideration regarding the best use of the center’s resources. One of the many examples of innovation: 10.5 miles of the building’s wiring runs beneath raised floors in three of the rooms, making it easily accessible for modification.

According to Cohick, the new radio tower keeps the Tioga County 911 Center in communication with the other twenty-three towers servicing Tioga and Potter counties, as well as parts of McKean, Bradford, and Lycoming counties. In this 2,500-mile radius of coverage, there are twenty-six fire companies, twenty-six police stations, and twenty ambulance/EMS services with whom the call center works to help those in need. Cohick said that all of these agencies work together to ensure that the right help is available.

Cohick offered WHP a tour of the new facilities, including the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), training room, radio room, and conference room. During the grand opening, the facility tours will be open to be the public, presenting the advantages of the new call center which ultimately allow dispatchers to serve the community. Presently, there are seventeen dispatchers working on three different shifts, three dispatchers per shift. Only one dispatcher rotates out at a time, so there are always two who were on duty the previous shift.
The 911 Center’s dedicated staff you may meet at the grand opening are listed below. Please attend on September 11th to show your support for their work.

Sheila DeLosa (911 Line Staff Coordinator)
Lisa Rice (Quality Assurance Coordinator)
Christopher Brackman (Telecommunicator)
Jeremy Chitester “
Darci Deibler “
James Douglass “
Tamora Kendrick “
David Lacher ”
Denise Ayers “
Duane Morgan “
Daniel Reilly “
Mark Resue “
Thomas Riley “
Kimberly Robinson “
Scott Shutt “
Marnie Toothaker “
Stacie Wolz “
Benton Best (EMA Coordinator)
David Cohick (Director)
Julie Erway (Administration Assistant)
Emily Kreider (EMA Planner)
Tasha Machmer (911 Field Technician)
Gerry Nel Otbot (Maintenance)
Ian Druetto (Training Fire/EMS Coordinator)