As identical twins, Andria and Sandria Dickey share not only the same last name, the same looks, and the same genetic makeup: They also have the same job in the South Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Telecommunications Unit.

“Sometimes we’ll walk out of our houses and come in here with the same outfits on,” Sandria said. “[Andria] could be here three hours earlier, and then I’ll leave my house and come in and she’s here, wearing the same outfit.”

Both sisters are telecommunications officers in the Blythewood Telecommunications Center — Sandria for three years and eight months, Andria for three years and six months.

I wanted to try something different and more interesting,” said Sandria, who came to DPS from the fast food industry. “And I know with these kinds of calls, it’s interesting.”

Twin births make up about 3 percent of all live births in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health. Fraternal twins are far more common than twins that are identical.

While National Twin Day on December 18 celebrates “the unique connection between siblings who share the same birthdays,” and the Dickey twins do indeed share many things, a birthday is not one of them. Each was born within a few minutes of midnight on September 8 and 9, with Sandria being older by 5 minutes. Their father, Captain Derrick Gamble of the SC Highway Patrol, admitted that having identical twin children was challenging at first.

“They looked exactly the same for a long time, so it was tough to pick out who was who,” he said. “But when you’re around them, you begin to notice little things, little nuances that they do differently.”

Growing up with an identical twin is like growing up with any other sibling, Andria and Sandria say. You have the companionship, but also have the disagreements and squabbles.

“One twin can’t do this and the other do that,” Sandria said. “We have to stick together, and we have to compromise a lot. That’s the hectic part.”

Having a twin also carries its share of mix-ups and laughs.

“My mom would come and talk about me to me because she thought I was Sandria,” Andria said. “To this day, she still does that. We’ll sit there quietly until she finishes, and then we’ll just stare at her and say, ‘You’re talking about me to me.’ We all just sit there and laugh at it.”

Their mother, who also is a twin, is used to it. While they look and act alike, each of the twins has their own unique personality. Andria, who is younger by about 5 minutes, was the more laid-back child while Sandria was more adventurous.

“She liked to go out and have fun; I was the type to stay in the house,” Andria said.

Working with identical twins in the same telecommunications center was confusing at first, said Von Carrigg Jr., who manages the Blythewood Telecommunications Center.

“After a while, you learn their different mannerisms,” he said. “Their attitudes are one of the things I love about them. I lean on both of those girls because their personalities are so cheerful. I hand them off people to train because with their good personalities, I don’t have to worry about anybody being rude or short with (the trainees).”

Gamble said his daughters’ pleasant personalities and desire to help others made them a good fit for telecommunications. He recalled the first time he heard Sandria’s voice over the radio on shift.

“I said, ‘That’s Baby Girl!’” he said. “I cut up with them a lot. I send them little text messages when they’re doing well. I like to make them laugh. I like to make sure I keep them upbeat.”

Growing up, Andria wanted to be a dentist and Sandria wanted to be a teacher or a lawyer. But both sisters say working in telecommunications is both challenging and rewarding.

“You get the teenagers crying when they get into wrecks, and you’re the one that’s calming them down,” Sandria said. “We sit on the phone with them and they trust us, and you can hear them relax. And then there’s a big, ‘Thank you so much for helping me.’ I think that kind of makes my day when they say thank you.”

They never get to meet the individuals they help, nor do they meet all of the troopers and officers they speak with over the radio each day. But troopers will often pop into the dispatch center to say hello or for a quick visit, and Andria and Sandria say they try to look after each one of them.

“We don’t know all of them personally, but we dispatch for them,” Sandria said. “So at the end of the day, they’re still our family. Dispatch and troopers are still all a big family.”

“We’re taking care of them from the inside, always,” Andria added.

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