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Functions | Frequently Asked Questions | Qualifications for Employment | Common Terms | Major Projects Interesting Facts | Forms | Most Valuable Telecommunicator | Incident of the Month
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
- 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.
- 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.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Freedom of Information Act - 911 Tape Request Form
(revised March 12, 2007)
- 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 |
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Mary Watson
May 2006 |
Lillian Oliver
February 2006 |
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Wendy Soles
June 2006 |
Paula Diaz-Guzman
March 2006 |
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C. E. Martin
July 2006 |
Jay Jackson
April 2006 |
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Ronald Altman
August 2006 |
- 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 |
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Kim Hardwick
May 2006 |
Donna Johnson
February 2006 |
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Danette Alford
June 2006 |
D Squad
March 2006 |
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Paula Diaz-Guzman
July 2006 |
Jessica Branton/Paula Diaz-Guzman
April 2006 |
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Lynn Gore
August 2006 |
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