CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Horry County has a new radio system in place that’s designed to help keep first responders safe and improve response times.
The multi-millon dollar system wasn’t supposed to be used until mid-April, but a recent failure in the old communication system would have had emergency responders unable to communicate with one another.
The county began work in 2014 to bring in a new radio system, after careful timing, the system was set to launch the week of April 17. A glitch in the old system prompted Horry County to launch the new system unexpectedly, and fire, emergency, and dispatch crews say the new radio system literally saved lives.
When you call 911, you expect someone to be there, but when your call is dispatched out, the response time depends on the radios used by the county’s first responders.
Lt. Jason Jordan with Horry County Fire Rescue says, “We always can hear what’s going on. We can always be reached. We can always be dispatched to a call.”
Last week, the old Horry County radio system went silent.
“The old system died,” described Horry County Councilman Johnny Vaught. “The old system was pretty old. It was 10 or 12 years old.”
Tuesday, police chief Joe Hill and fire chief Joey Tanner told county leaders they were glad the county moved forward with the new radio system because the old, faulty system was dangerous for their crews.
“With the previous system, we had about a 60 to 65 percent coverage throughout the county,” explains Horry County Spokesperson Lisa Bourcier. “Now we’re about 95 to 97 percent coverage throughout the county. So, it’s not only a safety issue for those first responders out in the field, but it gives a better response to people needing that help.”
So far, Chief Tanner says the transition has been a good one, and his crew is already seeing perks with the new radios.
“We got to be able to know all the details when we get these calls and where we’re going and what we’re doing and we don’t have to ask so many times to repeat to try to understand it,” says Chief Tanner. “This system is a digital system. So, it’s very, very clear.”
Councilman Vaught says originally there was a lot of controversy about spending millions of leftover Ride II funds for the new radio system. He says now that it’s in place, he’s glad council decided to move forward with the improvement.