Sussex County cuts ribbon on new Emergency Operations Complex

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. – Sussex County officials cut the ribbon on a new emergency operations center Tuesday morning.

At the newly-dubbed Emergency Operations Complex, county leaders say emergency planners, 911 dispatchers, and paramedics will be working side by side. The 20,000 square-foot addition came with a price tag of $12 million.

The facility is located at Delaware Coastal Airport, and has housed the county’s 911 dispatch center and emergency management divisions since 2008. Work on the expansion began in the fall of 2021.

Now, the complex is nearly double the size it was before, and will serve as a headquarters and training facility for county paramedics. It also includes new office space, a logistics warehouse, a classroom, five medical simulation rooms, and a mock ambulance laboratory.

The project was funded through Sussex County’s realty transfer tax revenue. County Council President Michael Vincent calls the expansion necessary; saying in part in a news release,

“Public safety is without question the County’s most important job. We’re talking about saving lives, and you can’t really put a price on that… The training, the tools, and most importantly the talent that Sussex County employs to ensure the best public safety system you’ll find anywhere is reflected in a project like this.”