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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. If you are interested
in the RUOK service please contact the Sheriff's office at 740-385-2131
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