Communications (E-911)

Contact Persons:
Toni Bessent
[ tbessent@horrycounty.org ]

Mailing address:
PO Box 296
Conway, SC 29528

Physical location:
Administrative Complex Building
103 Elm Street, Room 224
Conway, SC 29526

Phone: (843) 915-5100 Administration
(843) 248-1520 Non-Emergency
911 Emergency

Fax: (843) 248-1471

Administration Office Hours
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday through Friday

Dispatch Hours
24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

Functions

9-1-1 Center: assist all citizens and visitors by answering emergency and non-emergency calls, dispatching Horry County Police, Atlantic Beach Police, Aynor Police, Horry County Fire Rescue, and Horry County Sheriff's Office, maintaining records. Provide medical pre-arrival instructions to assist caller in giving help to the sick and injured before medical personnel arrive.

Radio System: Oversee upgrades, maintenance and repair of the county’s 800 MHz and VHF radio systems. Maintain FCC licenses and make required notifications. Coordinate mutual aid activities with the Palmetto 800 system and other local government radio systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are you asking me so many questions?

To determine the level and number of responders needed, assure prompt arrival of emergency personnel and advise responders of potentially hazardous situations. Staying on the line with the call taker does not delay the response. Another person, a dispatcher is sending the appropriate help and additional information is relayed to them by radio while they are on the way.

How long will it take for an officer to arrive?

It is very difficult to estimate because emergency calls must take priority over non-emergency calls. It also depends on how far away the officer is and if he is busy with a prior call.

Don't you already have my address?

Yes, but we must make sure our information is correct to make sure help arrives as soon as possible.

Qualifications for Employment

Prior to Employment:

Must have a High School Diploma or GED
Experience in telecommunications, public safety or related field
Undergo a criminal background investigation

After Employment:

In-house orientation and training
National Crime Information Center Certification
South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy E-9-1-1 Telecommunicator Specialist Training
PowerPhone Emergency Medical Dispatch Training
Mandatory bimonthly in-service training
Various local and regional training opportunities

Common Terms

Landmark - permanent or long-standing, easily recognizable feature, used to identify a particular location.

Medical History - any significant past or chronic health condition.

Non-emergency call - calls for service that pose no threat of injury or loss of life and no threat of theft or damage to property.

Major Projects

AVL: A program to incorporate Automatic Vehicle Locators on all county emergency responders is underway. This project will allow a dispatcher to see a graphical representation of each apparatus and allow the CAD to recommend units based on where they are at any given moment. The dispatcher will always know which units are closer to any emergency call.

CAD Upgrade: In conjunction with other components of the Comprehensive Public Safety Software Solution, our new computer aided dispatch software went on-line on February 1, 2006. Its interface with other software will allow sharing of records between departments, which will decrease duplication of effort, increase efficiency, and facilitate better access to records.

Radio Upgrade: We have recently added 3 new tower locations to our 800 MHz radio system. Two on the North end of the county and one on the South end, giving us more reliable mobile and portable coverage in those areas.

Phase II Wireless: We have been working to implement Phase II of the Wireless FCC ruling. A request has been made to all of our wireless carriers for the delivery of latitude and longitude for 9-1-1 calls from cellular telephones. Our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software will translate this into a street address. This will allow us to better serve the mobile telephone users in Horry County.

Interesting Facts

The Communications Center is here to provide help to all citizens and visitors to our area. All 9-1-1 calls made in Horry County are answered by the Horry County 9-1-1 Center. We dispatch for the Horry County Police and Fire Rescue Departments, and the Atlantic Beach and Aynor Police Departments. If the caller is in need of the services of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, any of the city police or fire departments, or any other emergency agency, we immediately transfer the call to them.

This office answers up to about 800 9-1-1 calls each 24 hour period and about 1200 telephone calls on our other lines. We expect to dispatch about 135,000 Police calls and 45,000 Fire/Rescue calls this year.

Please do not call 9-1-1 unless you have an emergency. If you call us on 9-1-1 and do not have an emergency, please tell us. If you do not speak with us to tell us you don't have an emergency, we will have to send a Police officer to make sure. If we send help where no help is needed, we may not have units available to respond to real emergencies.

Most Valuable Telecommunicator

Each month, the supervisory staff of the department chooses a deserving employee to be honored for outstanding service to the department and the citizens and visitors of Horry County. We are proud to have selected the following employees:

Triza Cox January 2006		Mary Watson May 2006
Lillian Oliver February 2006		Wendy Soles June 2006
Paula Diaz-Guzman March 2006		C. E. Martin July 2006
Jay Jackson April 2006		Ronald Altman August 2006

Incident of the Month

Each month, the supervisory staff of the department also chooses an incident that demonstrates outstanding service to the department and the citizens and visitors of Horry County. We are proud to have selected the following employees for their handling of a particular incident:

Tammy Sims January 2006		Kim Hardwick May 2006
Donna Johnson February 2006		Danette Alford June 2006
D Squad March 2006		Paula Diaz-Guzman July 2006
Jessica Branton/Paula Diaz-Guzman April 2006		Lynn Gore August 2006

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