The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART) communications infrastructure (hardware) consists of a series of strategically co-located VHF and UHF repeaters in each region of the state to form the SCHEART network.   The repeaters are placed at broadcast and microwave towers owned and operated by South Carolina ETV.  ETV’s microwave system allows each repeater to use a type of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to communicate with other regional repeaters to form a statewide linked repeater network.   South Carolina ETV is under contract to build the SCHEART infrastructure.   ETV owns the infrastructure network, and will maintain it for the life of the system to benefit the SCHEART initiative.  During emergencies, the system will have the capability of being linked to provide a coordinated response, or being used as a stand alone during major disasters for wide area transmissions.

Initially, completion of the infrastructure portion of the project was scheduled to take 5 years.  However, due to the coordination of the University of South Ham Coordinating Committee (UHCC) along with SC ETV and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) agency, the SCHEART infrastructure initiative is 3 years ahead of schedule.  For additional information on the system and installations visit SCHEART Repeaters.