It is time that we see a change in the number of individuals that survive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in South Carolina. Currently, there is only about a 12% survival rate for those who experience SCA outside of the hospital setting. With a large majority of cardiac events happening at home, implementing proper protocols could mean saving the life of a family member, neighbor, or friend.
Having been an EMT, I’ve seen the critical role that 911 operators serve in these traumatic events. Telecommunicators (911 operators) are the true first responders and a critical link in the cardiac arrest chain of survival… READ MORE
Can we take a minute to talk about some of our most unsung heroes in our county? I’m referring to our dispatchers, the people who answer our calls when we are having an emergency.
It’s important for our citizens to know how often these people are forgotten as some of our most important heroes in our community. When we call them, it doesn’t matter which town we are from, whether we are in the city or the county. What matters to them is getting us the help we need, as quickly and efficiently as they can. They are our fist line of defense in every situation that comes to them. They have to make the decision of who needs to be notified and sent our way. They have to know what to tell us to do in any emergency that we call them with, how to administer first aid, how to perform CPR, the safest measures to take when there’s been an accident, etc. They must keep us as calm as possible, often in situations that seem like the worst moments of our lives…
But I’m guilty of jumping to the end of this story – emergency? It started much earlier, in the wee hours, around 8:30 a.m., definitely the wee hours for a teacher on a Saturday morning.
This year, 2022, already doesn’t seem much different from 2021. We had COVID and still have COVID, and we had lots of traffic and still have lots of traffic.
As Hood County grows, so will our growing pains. My office is here to serve all who live in Hood County and those who pass through it. We get tasked every day with keeping up with all we do for the citizens.
All 911 calls and non-emergency calls come through my central dispatch. We dispatch all fire and EMS calls and law enforcement calls. The dispatchers are stretched to the limit and we are fortunate to have who I have working there. They answer the calls, input the information and dispatch the responders that are needed. It all starts with them…
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is in response to a reader-submitted question through Open Source, a platform where readers can submit questions to the staff.
MOUNT VERNON — The 911 phone line in Knox County has gone down twice in the last few weeks.
The reason why? On Nov. 5 and Oct. 16, CenturyLink — the provider the county uses for its emergency lines — had area outages.
Mark Molzen, global issues director for Lumen Technologies (the rebrand of CenturyLink), wrote in an email to Knox Pages that services were restored within hours on Oct. 16 and within 24 hours on Nov. 5…
We, the undersigned, are writing to express our concern about the recent decision by the Berkeley City Council, the City Manager, and the Berkeley Police Department to use encrypted public safety radio devices in Berkeley.
It is our understanding that the City of Berkeley selected the company, Motorola Solution, to provide encrypted public safety radio devices for two reasons: 1) there is no alternative radio device to share communications with neighboring police units, and 2) the company would provide a discount to this city. We now understand that these reasons are false…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
