Are You OK?

The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office is implementing  an “Are You O.K?” (R-U-OK) Telephone Reassurance Program in an attempt to help meet the needs of Hocking County’s seniors, disabled and homebound residents.  The program provides a sense of security and caring and is an added benefit, both to those it would serve, as well as public service agencies serving those persons in Hocking County.

 The “Are You O.K.? Telephone Reassurance Program” is a computerized system that will make daily telephone calls to subscribers at the same time each day, seven days a week, with subscribers choosing the time of their calls at “no charge” to the subscriber.  If the subscriber is okay, he or she simply hangs up the telephone after hearing the pre-recorded message.  If the subscriber does not answer or if the telephone line is busy, two more attempts are made before the computer generates an “alert” to sheriff’s office personnel who then notifies a person of the subscribers choice. 

The “alert” provides officers with a printout of the subscriber’s name and address, medical history, doctor, emergency contact person, next-of-kin and other pertinent information collected from the subscriber when they signed up for the program.

RUOK is not designed to be a lifesaver, although there have been instances where it played an important part and did save the life of the subscriber.  Its main purpose is to add an additional sense of security to the subscriber, family members and friends of the subscriber, using the program as an additional support system when they are unable to maintain consistent contact with the subscriber.

Since the implementation of this program in the United States and Canada, numerous accounts have been recorded of persons who benefited from the program.  One recent incident, where R-U-OK was not implemented, had a tragic ending. 

Not too far from Hocking County, an elderly lady had slipped and fallen while outside of her residence.  She managed to return to the outside basement entrance to her residence, where she collapsed and subsequently froze to death.  She was found a day or so later by a delivery person.

Had this program been available to her, while her life may not have been saved, at least the proper authorities could have been alerted and found her in a timely manner.   

R-U-OK is completely computerized and requires little labor. The system can make over 100 calls per hour and, if an emergency should occur, can generate the necessary assistance without disrupting the call schedule of other subscribers.   

As stated earlier, each call is computer generated and requires no operator or employee assistance in any manner, other than the initial setup of the system. 

R-U-OK is a public service provided by the sheriff’s office for the citizens of Hocking County and  “free” to subscribers who wish to utilize the service.   

In an effort to provide additional security measures to assist our seniors, homebound and disabled residents, RUOK is an excellent program to provide that service.

For more information regarding this program, telephone the sheriff's office at 740-385-2131 or 1-800-903-5395.