You should call 911 when you need the immediate response of an emergency service, such as police officers, an ambulance, or firefighters. Please call 911 if there is an immediate risk to the safety of people or property (yours or others), or if there is a medical emergency. A 911 call is always free.
When the dispatcher answers your call, try to remain calm as you describe the emergency, and give the location where help is needed. Your telephone number is displayed to the dispatcher immediately, so that you can be called back if more information is needed or if the call is interrupted.
If you call 911 by accident, or if you change your mind about an incident’s severity after you dial, please stay on the line until the dispatcher ends the call; do not just hang up. Instead, stay on the phone and explain to the dispatcher that you dialed by mistake and that you do not have an emergency.
Otherwise, the dispatcher (not knowing that there’s no emergency) will spend time trying to call you back or may even send emergency responders to you — and force other 911 calls to wait in the meantime.
Special Note for Cell Phone Users
Dispatchers have had instances of people calling on their cell phones by accident (by bumping or sitting on their phone), and then going on with their day unaware that the dispatchers are on the line and trying to talk with them. This ties up not only a channel in the communications system, but also some of the dispatchers’ time — and both of these are needed in order to respond to actual emergencies.
The Bulloch County 911 Center is made up of 14 dispatchers who work shifts, including weekends and holidays. The center dispatches for 11 area police departments, 4 fire and rescue units, and 3 ambulance services. Bulloch County 911 serves the citizens of not only Bulloch County but Candler and Evans as well. The staffing of the 911 Center typically has three dispatchers working from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Dispatchers are required to work weekends and holidays. The 911 Center uses a CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) system. Dispatchers enter all of the calls for all agencies that they serve, and thus can check for previous hazards or prior calls from the location. The radio control screen allows instant access to police, fire, and ambulance services in the three counties that our center dispatched for.
Bulloch County 911 is proud to announce an enhanced version of “Reverse 911”. If there was ever a need to decimate emergency information via land line or cell phone, this technology will be used. However, land lines are the only telephone numbers in the system at this time. If you would like to receive a call on your cell phone or an email, please click on the hyper link below. Be prepared to enter a user name and password as this information will be secured in our system as your information will be protected.
Please submit all 911 Open Records to kbarnard@bullochcounty.net
To provide Bulloch, Evans, and Candler Counties with a reliable, cost effective and state of the art Enhanced 911 Emergency Telephone System and to maintain the system with complete public confidence and accountability; to provide residents of these counties with demonstrated life-saving responsiveness in any emergency.
Because Bulloch County can receive Phase I wireless subscription revenues, and because of the regional service agreements, the revenue collections are such that the Board of Commissioners may in the future consider converting this fund into an Enterprise Fund to be financially, self-sufficient.
Two major initiatives to be undertaken this year will be: 1) to fully implement a reverse 911 system allowing early warning phone calls to be made for wide-scale man-made or natural emergencies; and, 2) to conduct revenue audits on wireless carriers.
Bulloch County 911 is proud to announce an enhanced version of “Reverse 911”. If there was ever a need to decimate emergency information via land line or cell phone, this technology will be used. However, land lines are the only telephone numbers in the system at this time. If you would like to receive a call on your cell phone or a email, please click on the hyper link below. Be prepared to enter a user name and password as this information will be secured in our system as your information will be protected.
Dispatchers must be able to multi-task throughout their shift. For example, they may need to talk with a suicidal person while calling in the appropriate EMS and law enforcement personnel to respond, and still continue to handle other emergency and routine calls that come into the center. A “typical” 911 call can consist of anything from a complaint by a neighbor to a report of a multiple-car accident with fatalities. Dispatchers need to be able to remain calm and collected in a tense situation, and to be alert for signs of trouble in the background of calls they take. New dispatchers have extensive on-the-job training, performed by trainers. However, you do not need any special schooling beyond a high-school diploma to become a dispatcher. Dispatchers are responsible, dedicated people who work very hard to help keep the citizens and officers safe.
911 should not be used unless a dangerous condition exists which requires immediate action.
Emergency Telephone Subscriber: Landline – $1.50 per subscriber account per month
Emergency Telephone Subscriber: Wireless – $1.50 per subscriber account per month
Emergency Telephone Subscriber: VOIP – $1.50 per subscriber account per month
Prepaid Wireless Fees – $1.50 per month per line
