Communications (E-911)
Contact Person:
Toni Bessent - tbessent@horrycounty.org
Mailing address:
Horry County Communications (E-911)
PO Box 1236
Conway, SC 29528
Physical location:
103 Elm Street
Conway, SC 29526
Administration: 843.915.5100
Non‑Emergency: 843.248.1520
FAX: 843.248.1471
Administration Office Hours:
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday through Friday
Dispatch Office Hours:
24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
843.248.1520
EMS Patient Billing:
Phone: 843.915.5182
FAX: 843.915.6206
For EMS patient payments, send by mail or in person to:
M.L. Brown Jr. Public Safety
2560 Main Street
Conway, 29526
Quick Links:
- Awards and Recognition
- Character Word of the Month
- Definitions
- FOIA Requests
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Interesting Facts
- Major Projects
FOIA Requests: Freedom of Information Act Requests
Request a Radio Traffic, Telephone Call, or Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Report, with the 911 Tape Request form. [revised October 2011]
Please return completed requests to:
Horry County Public Information Office
PO Box 1236
Conway, SC 29528
Phone: 843.915.5390
FAX: 843.915.6390
e-mail: publicinfo_1@horrycounty.org
Mission Statement:
As the first link in the chain of Public Safety, it is our mission to provide courteous, reliable and professional service to the citizens and visitors of Horry County. We will support all Public Safety agencies with superior communications services through the use of state-of-the-art equipment, effective ongoing training, caring and dedicated employees and by actively seeking ways to improve. To provide our citizens and visitors with a reliable, state-of-the-art, Enhanced 9-1-1 system, manned by well‑trained, courteous call-takers. We will provide timely, lifesaving assistance in all emergencies. We will handle non-emergency calls efficiently and provide accurate information to internal and external callers. We will make timely and accurate changes to the telephone database.
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, Briarcliffe Acres Police, Conway Fire Rescue, Surfside Fire Rescue, Horry County Fire Rescue, and Horry County Sheriff's Office, maintaining records. Provide medical pre-arrival instructions to assist callers in giving help to the sick and injured before medical personnel arrive.
We receive and dispatch calls to Environmental Services officers for issues with domesticated animals, as well as calls for a Litter Control officer. Both of these divisions are under the authority of the Horry County Police Dept.
CAD
Computer Aided Dispatch. Motorola Printrak CAD system is used to enter and track all calls for service. The system provides dispatchers with apparatus recommendations for responses, GIS‑centric mapping, automatic vehicle locator (AVL) information, links to mobile data terminals (MDT) in the field and is the primary repository for incident related information.
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
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.
^ topDefinitions:
PSAP - Public Safety Answering Point
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) is a call center responsible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number for police, firefighting, and ambulance services.
E911 - Enhanced 911
A system that associates the caller's telephone number with a physical address and routes the call to the appropriate PSAP, where it is displayed upon answering the call. This allows responders to locate emergencies if the caller is unable to provide the information. Calltakers are taught to verify location information whenever possible.
NCIC - National Crime Information Computer
The FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC) 2000 is a nationwide information system dedicated to serving and supporting criminal justice agencies -- local, state, and federal -- in their mission to uphold the law and protect the public. This information is for law enforcement use only.
ANI - Automatic Number Identification
Automatic Number Identification corresponds to the subscriber's seven digit telephone number. The ANI displays at the PSAP on the digital ANI display console.
ALI - Automatic Location Identification
Automatic Location Identification provides for an address display of the subscriber calling 911.
APCO - Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials
APCO International is the world's largest organization dedicated to public safety communications. We have been around since 1935 - far longer than any other public safety communications association (visit APCOHistory.org for more on APCO's 70+ year history). More than 15,000 members rely on APCO for their professional needs - from examining standards and issues to providing education, products and services.
NENA: National Emergency Number Association
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is an organization whose mission it is to foster the technological advancement, availability, and implementation of a universal emergency telephone number system. One of NENA's main functions is to grade the quality of the 9-1-1 (the Universal Emergency Number since 1968) services that exist throughout the United States of America. ^ top
Major Projects:
AVL
A program to incorporate Automatic Vehicle Locators on all county emergency responders is in place. This project is on-going and allows a dispatcher to see a graphical representation of each apparatus and allow the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) 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.
Above example shows Officer 365 in a "dispatched" status. The example is in aerial view.
The above example shows Officer 365 in a "dispatched" status. The example is in "map view".
All Precinct officers of the police department, the Sheriff's Office deputies, Aynor PD, and all county ambulances have AVL systems in place. The County Fire apparatus will be receiving their equipment soon.
The above example shows a Medic and Fire truck in an "arrived" status.
The above example shows the Medical Officer in a "dispatched" status.
Awards and Recognition:
Horry County E911 Voted Best in the State
November 5, 2009Conway, South Carolina - Horry County 911 was selected as the 2009 South Carolina "Communications Center of the Year" at the SC APCO/NENA Conference (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International/National Emergency Number Association).
This is an annual conference sponsored by the two professional organizations that represent dispatchers, technicians, supervisors, trainers and managers from 911 centers, police, fire, ambulance and consolidated communications centers from all areas of the state. The award was presented at the brunch during the conference on Friday, October 30, 2009.
Horry County Rescue Squad: For all Services and Assistance Rendered to Us. 1990 Salvation Army: Certificate of Appreciation. September 10, 2006 Parkway Community Baptist Church: Recognition of Service to our Community. "9-1-1 Sunday" October 14, 2007 National Weather Service: Public Service Award. September 26, 2001 APCO/NENA: Team 911 Award, Honorable Mention. October 24, 2003 APCO/NENA: Communication Center of the Year. November 5, 2004 Fire Rescue Station 17 Mt. Vernon Volunteers: Appreciation for your Hard Work and Dedication.
^ topInteresting Facts:
Horry County 911 Communications is a consolidated center that answers all 911 calls in the county and dispatches police, fire and ambulance calls for all county public safety agencies, as well as Atlantic Beach Police, Aynor Police, Briarcliffe Acres Police, Conway Fire Rescue, Surfside Fire Rescue and the volunteer rescue squads.
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 a number of Law Enforcement (Atlantic Beach, Aynor, County Police and County Sheriff) and Fire Rescue (Conway, Surfside, and County) 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.
In Fiscal Year 2009 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) we dispatched a total of 190,962 police, fire and ambulance incidents. 534,712 incoming telephone calls were received and 221,693 of those were 9-1-1 calls. Wireless calls accounted for 61% of 9-1-1 calls. Our lowest number of 9-1-1 calls was in February, when we answered 13,904 calls. The highest monthly total was in July when we received 26,104 9-1-1 calls.
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.
^ topCharacter Word of the Month:
Each month the supervisory staff of the department chooses someone who exemplifies the Character Word of the Month, as designated by the Character First leadership model.
We are proud to have selected the following employees:
| Orderliness | Betsy Spires | January 2009 |
| Forgiveness | Lari Hylton | February 2009 |
| Sincerity | Diane Driver | March 2009 |
| Virtue | Brett Wilburn | April 2009 |
| Honor | Derrick Bratcher | May 2009 |
| Justice | Lynn Gore/Mary Kate Fisher | June 2009 |
| Gentleness | Tammy Sims | July 2009 |
| Faith | Wendy Soles | August 2009 |
| Responsibility | Kecia Malcom | September 2009 |
| Patience | Dwight Thompson | October 2009 |
| Initiative | Emily Larson | November 2009 |
| Self Control | Natasha Morrison | December 2009 |
| Punctuality | Dolly Hardwick | January 2010 |
| Resourcefulness | Mary Watson | Feb 2010 |
| Tolerance | Debbie Lee | March 2010 |
| Creativity | Kayla Thompkins | April 2010 |
| Discretion | Sharon Buckwell | May 2010 |
| Endurance | Martha Carmichael | June 2010 |
| Meekness | Chris Martin | July 2010 |
| Security | Kristina Cook | August 2010 |
