About the Center

The West Central Joint Dispatch Center was developed as joint effort between the City of Jacksonville, Morgan County Board, Passavant Hospital, and the West Central Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB). The mission of the West Central Joint Dispatch Center is to provide professional and compassionate 9-1-1 and emergency dispatch services, including Law Enforcement, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services, in a timely, consistent, and fiscally responsible manner to the residents, visitors, business and all the agencies served by the Center. The West Central ETSB is comprised of 13 members from the various emergency response agencies and county boards from Morgan, Greene and Calhoun Counties. 

What We Do

The West Central Joint Dispatch Center, consisting of 14 Telecommunicators, handles 9-1-1 calls for Morgan, Green, and Calhoun Counties. We handle radio traffic for Law Enforcement, Fire Department, and EMS Agencies. We also answer all non-emergency phone lines for all of Morgan County. We cover approximately 1300 square miles and 52,000 people. The Center answers approximately 16,000 9-1-1 calls per year.

The West Central Joint Dispatch Center aims to further serve the public by accepting text messages to 9-1-1 when making a voice call is not possible due to a speech or hearing impairment or when the caller's physical safety would be put in jeopardy by a voice call.

How We Do It

The West Central Joint Dispatch Center uses International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) protocols. The IAED is a non-profit standard-setting organization promoting safe and effective emergency dispatch services worldwide. Comprising three allied Academies for medical, fire, and police dispatching, the IAED supports first responder related research, unified protocol application, legislation for emergency cell center regulation, and strengthening the emergency dispatch community through education, certification, and accreditation.

Fun Fact

We have attained the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch status as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) for our use of the Dual Fire and EMD (medical) Priority Dispatch System. As the 272nd agency in the world to attain ACE status we are among the highest-performing emergency dispatch agencies. We are one of four Medical ACE agencies in Illinois. ACE inspires agencies to perform superior, up-to-date public care and to employ efficient use of resources when handling all emergency call situations. Because ACE agencies abide by these standards and have fulfilled these requirements, callers can have peace of mind knowing their needs will always be appropriately addressed and that they will receive the help they need.