After three months of renovation, the Drôme firefighters are inaugurating their new CTA-CODIS – Alert processing center – Departmental operational center – in Valence, route de Montélier. The premises had not been renovated since 2012. 400,000 euros have been invested, funded 62% by the Department and 38% by the municipalities.
More practical, more modern, more suitable, these new premises (operational for about three weeks) make the work of firefighters more “serene” who are faced with an increasing number of interventions. From now on, the Drôme firefighters are carrying out more than 40,000 operations per year.
“When the population asks for help by calling 18 or 112, it ends up in this operational room where the operators are responsible for processing the requests” explains Commander Héritier, deputy to the head of the operation group. Six people are permanently present on the set, including three dedicated to calls, in the order of 400 to 500 per day.
The open space is divided into two. A little behind is the CODIS part where choices are made, where interventions are prioritized and where requests for reinforcements are organized; the nerve center of the place in a way.
The old meeting room has been fitted with suitable furniture to transform it into a crisis room during major operations. “We said to ourselves that this 20 m² meeting room was not used during crises” exposes the commander Héritier who piloted the renovation. The dining table is now multifunctional: you press a button and screens rise from the table. The crisis unit is thus operational immediately.