Staff & Employment

Personnel

Hoke County Emergency Communications has 12 full-time Telecommunicators plus the Director and Assistant Director. The Center also utilizes part-time Telecommunicators. Part-time personnel must meet the same training, certification, and continuing education requirements as full time personnel.

Street sign maintenance and Addressing are also a part of Emergency Communications. The Street Sign Technician handles the repair and installation of street name signs.

The Addressing Office handles the issuance of all addresses in the City of Raeford and County of Hoke.

Employment

Prospective employees must undergo a background check that includes a computerized criminal history check and criminal history check via fingerprints. Experience in Emergency Communications is preferred but some experience in some type of public safety organization is desired. Employees must take a Telecommunicator screening exam that consists of typing tests, "split-ear" tests, and memory tests in a communications environment. Successful applicants must also undergo a drug screening.

Training

Once hired, employees must attend classes and become certified in:

  • Emergency Telecommunicator (Basic Telecommunicator Course) - 40 Hours
  • Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) - 24 Hours
  • DCI (SBI Computer System) - 32 Hours
  • NC Aware (NC Warrant System) - 16 Hours

During which you will undergo the in-house training program which are at a minimum:

  • In House Training Program - 100 Hours
  • Console Training - Set by Assistant Director

The training program is very intense and through. Our training program is certified as an APCO Project 33 Certified Training Program.

Procedures

Emergency Communications is very SOP and protocol driven. There are ways to do things that must be adhered to as you literally have the lives of citizens and responders in your hands. There are no short cuts or cutting corners. We have Standards of Dispatch that must be adhered to.

Upon recommendation of the Assistant Director, you are released to full-duty. However your educational process does not end. The Center mandates continuing education in all areas each month that is performed on duty. Calls you take and dispatch are reviewed and those reviews are reviewed with you not as a punishment but as a way to improve performance.

Applying for a Position

Applications are not accepted unless we are actively advertising a position. Those advertisements are issued and posted by the Human Resources Department. Position openings are posted online on the Hoke County website and in the Hoke County Administrative Offices at 227 N. Main St. in Raeford.