FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The Florence County E911 Central Dispatch Center has been awarded the South Carolina Center of the Year Award for the third consecutive year. 

They won the award last Friday at the annual APCO/NENA Conference in Myrtle Beach. This is the department’s fifth win overall. They won in 2005, 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2018. It received the recognition this year because of its new state-of-the-art dispatch center. The center has been operating for nearly a year now. Public Information Officer Levi James says the center has enhanced their capabilities and allowed them to answer more calls. They’ve also been able to hire more staff. 

“It has proved itself worthy. Having the more space to accommodate all of the dispatchers. Having more telephone lines and updated equipment we have has helped us out tremendously,” he said. “With the new positions, we had 9, now we have 14 positions. Also, we can transfer to have 18 positions using our admin staff offices.”

The department put the dispatch center to the test when Dillon County’s 911 center flooded during Hurricane Florence and they called for backup.

“We were able to transfer their 911 lines to our center and brought in extra staff to manage the 911 calls to Dillon county and transfer them to our agency,” James said. “We want to make sure that when our neighboring county needs assistance, we’re able to assist in any way we can. And vice versa. If we need assistance we’re able to lean on them. We all stand together.”

James says the award “speaks volumes” of the dedication the dispatchers have to making sure Florence County’s first responders, citizens and visitors are taken care of.”

Florence County Central Dispatch is a Division of the Florence County Emergency Management Department. According to a press release, it is responsible for dispatching the 25 emergency response departments located within the county, including 11 Fire Departments, nine municipal Police Departments, three Volunteer Rescue Squads, as well as the county-wide EMS and Sheriff’s Office. Last year, Florence County Central Dispatch handled 322,225 calls. 

The one-year anniversary of the new dispatch center will be on November 14.