Sussex Emergency Operations Complex opens

After two years of construction, officials gathered Oct. 10 to cut a ribbon and officially open the new expanded $12 million, 20,000-square-foot Sussex County Emergency Operations Complex in the Delaware Coastal Airport complex near Georgetown.

For the first time, all of the county’s public safety departments are in one building, including Sussex County Emergency Medical Services, emergency operations, the county 911 center and the Delaware State Police dispatch center.

“Bringing the administration of our public safety resources together under one roof has been a top priority for the county for years. This will give our staff the modern technology, training space and other amenities they need, working together, that will make for a stronger, more collaborative system to best serve our constituents,” said Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson.

The expansion, which began in the fall of 2021, nearly doubles the size of the operations complex, and will serve as the headquarters and training facility for the county’s 125-member paramedic department that staffs a dozen stations across the county. In addition to office space for about two dozen administrative staff members and a logistics warehouse, the addition has a focus on paramedic education and training, featuring a state-of-the-art 50-person classroom and five medical simulation rooms, including a mock ambulance laboratory.

The new wing replaces outdated space in the county’s administrative offices west complex just off Route 113 in Georgetown. Staff relocated to their new quarters in late August, and have since settled into the new space.

Funding for the project came through the county’s portion of realty transfer tax revenue, which can be utilized for a variety of local government expenditures, including public safety.

The project was managed by Sussex County’s engineering department; design and engineering services were provided by George, Miles, & Buhr and RMF Engineering; and Bancroft Construction served as general contractor.

“The heart of the new facility is centered around training and education,” said Sussex County EMS Director Robert Murray said. “It was our desire to ensure that we had a state-of-the-art training facility that would accommodate the county paramedics and our public safety partners for decades to come.”

Sussex County Council President Mike Vincent said the expansion was a necessary next step in the community’s growth, and to ensure Sussex County’s public safety system keeps pace with the increased demand for fire protection, law enforcement and emergency medical services.

“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,” Vincent said. “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. The county council is proud of all our first-responder heroes, and we are proud to be able to deliver on that promise to serve the people of this great community.”