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Emergency communications and management report strong World Cup preparations and high call volume
Summary
Emergency management and communications staff reported ECC and emergency management activities, noting 36 ECC full-time staff, a 2025 call volume of roughly 250,000 calls with 46,000 911 calls and success moving 911 operations without interruption; staff credited unified command and partner coordination in World Cup planning.
Emergency management and the emergency communications center briefed Douglas County commissioners on operational metrics and lessons from recent World Cup preparations.
County staff said the emergency communications center operates with 36 full-time employees and reported that in 2025 the center handled about 250,000 calls, of which roughly 46,000 were 911 calls; staff said 99% of calls were answered within 20 seconds last year. Sonia Baeza, deputy director for emergency communications, and Tony Foster, director of emergency communications, described efficiencies and process updates intended to maintain performance while managing rising expectations.
Robert Panecke, director of emergency management, credited a unified command structure and interagency planning for smoother-than-anticipated World Cup operations and emphasized the value of ongoing partnerships with nongovernmental organizations and regional partners. "We anticipated much worse than what we've seen...we were prepared for the worst as we always do," Panecke said.
Staff told commissioners they are continuing to refine call-determinant-based dispatching to match response type to risk and are assessing whether future staff additions will be needed. The commission recessed to continue budget deliberations; no formal votes were taken in this session.
