Re: 911:: Are you OK Programs

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/3/02 10:43:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,

Codonn9009@... writes:

> Is there anyone out there doing the Are you OK program? If you are not

> aware

> of this it is a program for the elderly were calls are placed to them to be

>

> sure they are OK.

>

>

We had this program in my last department. It was called " The Good Morning "

program. Basically the elderly or infirm call the non emergency number

between 8 and 10 am (although we never held them to the 8am cutoff since our

elderly like to be up and out early) If we did not hear from them by 10am we

placed a call to their house. No answer and we went down the list of

emergency contacts they supplied when they sign up for program. Still no

contact and we sent officer to their home to check on them.

We had a small group of between 10 and 15 over the years and you got to know

them so well after awhile you could usually find them if they forgot to call.

There was no computer program involved, stricly clip board check sheet. We

were a small enough department and it was a small enough group that it took

very little time and very little energy.

Over the years I got to know many of the guys and gals on the list and still

keep in touch with a few. It seemed to give them great comfort to have

someone to call and chat with and they were all great about keeping it short

if we were busy when they called.

The department I am with now does not have any such program and quite

honestly I doubt we ever will. Volume of calls is much, much higher here and

we have so many other similar programs like Life Line and Office on Aging

that do this job that there really isn't a need.

Depending on the size of your department and the number of folks that sign up

for the program it can be a huge job change. Once you start this program

these people become your responsibility. You have to remember to check on

them no matter what else you are doing. We ran into minor problems when a

dispatcher that normally did not work days would forget to check on the few

that forgot to call in. Fortunately it always turned out that everyone was

safe and just forgot to call. Its a big responsibility to take on the

direct well being of other people. I honestly don't miss this extra burden.

Patty

BTPD NJ

[Guest guest]

Before the " great Y2K " , we had an automated RUOK program. Limited participation

from the elderly in our town, but it was still operational. After the turn of

the year, the computer that ran the program died. It has not been replaced for

one reason or another. At first, we were told the company was out of business,

then that there was no support for Y2K issues. I have since discovered that the

company is still in busines, they have a product that works on " current "

computers, and we are only waiting for them to finish testing and release a

product that works on an NT platform.

Since the demise of the computerized system, dispatch was originally responsible

for making the daily calls. For the past year and a half, that responsibility

has been taken over by the person that answers our phones during duty hours. We

hope that there will be a new system operating within the year...but, with all

the turmoil at my agency of late, that is one other thing that is up in the air.

As to how it is/was run: residents fill out a form with basic information,

special circumstances, and contact

number(s). This information was originally entered into the computer program,

but is now kept manually. Each person chooses a time that they wish to be

called, and they are then called at that time. If there is no answer, a 2nd

attempt is made within the hour. If there is no answer on a 2nd attempt, an

officer is dispatched to do a welfare check while the contact person is being

notified.Our elders are good about calling into the call person and letting him

know when they are going to the doctor, to visit friends or family or shopping.

The software for the program is rather expensive for start up...and with only a

few people, not sure how " cost effective " it will be considered.

Freida

LaVergne, TN

>

> Is there anyone out there doing the Are you OK program?

[Guest guest]

One of the small towns we dispatch for has this program. One of the office

volunteers keeps a list of the elderly that apply and makes daily or weekly

calls, whichever the person wants. If they cannot get thru via phone, the

office volunteer calls the comm center for dispatch of an officer to check.

I don't know the exact particulars, but the phone # to inquire if you are so

inclined is.....that's the University Place Police Dept.

Bob in Tacoma

Dispatcher

http://www.lesa.net

[Guest guest]

At my department, the program is called " Golden CARES " and unfortunately over

the years, I've forgotten exactly what CARES stands for (it's an acronym).

The program has been going on for over 20 years (Used to be called Golden

Agers but it's now open to anyone, not just the seniors, who might need some

daily contact and the Golden part - well, that's our city's name.)

How our program works, is that the participant calls us every morning. If we

haven't heard from them by noon, we place the call and if no answer, an

officer will respond and check their residence. We keep on file keys for

some of the houses, otherwise, we know the location of a key. We also have

on file their medical history, including primary doctor, medications, and

next of kin information.

It's a great program, as you might be the only person the participant chats

with. You get to know them, laugh with them, debate politics with them then

you cry over them when they pass. We lost one really neat lady last week.

For her, she had other contacts who had tried calling her and when they

didn't get an answer, called and requested a welfare check. Officer found

her on the floor, deceased. She had passed sometime the previous evening.

She was 94 years old and sharp as a tack! She sent to dispatch 3 boxes of

the good Whitman's chocolates for Christmas - one box for each traditional

shift. My brother, the coroner investigator, told me he saw the Christmas

Card the dispatchers had sent her on display in the house. Today I had the

sad duty to inform a friend of hers in Washington state, who called and asked

us to check on her, that she had passed away.

Years ago there was a system out there that the participant could call and

punch a number to " check in " on an automatic system.. how cold. We've had

up to 20 participants in our program, now we're down to 5. How we find them

is either a family member will call and ask about our program, or if the

officers contact an elderly person who they feel will benefit from the

program, one of the code enforcement officers will go to their house and

explain the program. We loose them to nursing homes, they move outside the

city, or sadly they die.

Go for it. It might take you a while to get it started, but once you do, I

think all involved will like it.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

<< Is there anyone doing this? >>>

We. We got a grant from Fireman's Fund in, I believe, 1991 -- if not further

back.

<If so how do you run it and who makes the calls?>

We have a computer program that makes the calls. Each person makes an

application that has information such as their date of birth, medical,

contact numbers, where the spare key is, etc. Every morning at 10:00 a.m.

either a volunteer (our volunteers are retired senior citizens and very very

cool people who hang out at the department) or, if no volunteer is around

regular staff does it. We turn on the puter and it runs through the names on

the list. If the line is busy or no answer it will call back 3 times. We

have one woman who is ALWAYS on the phone at 10:00 a.m........never fails,

she knows the call is coming but EVERY morning she's on the phone. Anyway,

it runs through the list and it tracks how many calls made, how many

responses, how many busy and how many negative responses.

If it gets to three tries and no response it says " alarm, alarm alarm " and

then tells you who didn't answer. We pull the application and first try to

call the person. If there is no response we treat it like a 911 hangup and

send an officer.

We have had one person who was trapped behind his refrig who, when he didn't

answer, we sent a unit. He was in his 80's and was there for a day -- he

fell after the daily call and he was ok after medical checked him out.

A month ago I had a woman who didn't respond, we sent an officer and he

checked her out and she was ok.

If they aren't going to be home they are supposed to call us and let us know

that so we don't send a unit and they are pretty good about it.

The thing that surprised me was that we only have 8 peopled signed up and our

city is like 50,000 people. I think its a good program and if my dad had

been enrolled in one two years ago maybe he would have been alive today--he

died in the morning and my sister didn't find him till late that nite -- over

12 hours later. MAYBE....you never know.

As far as working conditions -- its a dedicated computer and for our 8 people

it takes maybe 10 minutes to run it each day.

Anyway, I think its a great program.

[Guest guest]

While this sounds like a great program, and I know that

some departments have used an automated call system

to take care of it....

I'm not so sure that it needs to be a police department/dispatcher

responsibility.

Sounds more suited for an agency in the community that concentrates

on the elderly... or church organization...

Good PR... but extra work and responsibility, the majority of which will

fall on dispatch... " one more thing for Dispatch to do " ....

Weintraut

[Guest guest]

You have hit on my pet peeve with this program.

Our community is " big " on Senior issues. We have suggested over and

over....have some of the Seniors that go to the Senior Center every day,

call these people. They will love the chance to talk to someone their

age, it is something other than games that the seniors can do...and, if

there is a problem getting in touch with someone, they can then notify

the PD if needed. So far, they have not been willing to do it.Guess the

seniors are too busy with their bingo, quilting and trips to this place

and that .

Freida

LaVergne,TN

>Sounds more suited for an agency in the community that concentrates

>on the elderly... or church organization...

>

>

[Guest guest]

South Burlington PD, South Burlington VT

Its called " Project Good Morning " there....I used to work there part time

(in like 1996) and its been in place since at least then.

This is their web site http://sburl.com/police/

> Hello,

>

> Is there anyone out there doing the Are you OK program? If you are not

aware

> of this it is a program for the elderly were calls are placed to them to

be

> sure they are OK.

>

> Is there anyone doing this? If so how do you run it and who makes the

calls?

>

> I think this is something that my Chief is looking to get in to but we are

> union and it sounds like a " change in working conditions " to me.

>

[Guest guest]

Our RUOK program, is computer generated, although it is not 2000 capatible.

We are using 1992 for 2002. Our crime prevention sets it up mostly with the

elderly and home bound, but it is up to dispatch to put the calls out of

service if the people are not going to be home. If the computer does not make

contact, an alarm sounds on the computer and emergency information is

printed. It is up to the dispatcher to first try calling the residence, and

then the contact people. If unable to come up where the people are, we send

officers to the residence on a Check the well being call. I also agree with

that this should be something for the senior center people to do or someone

other than the dispatcher to maintain. But, as with everything, because we

are there 24/7, they have us do office work to, like selling parking tokens

for the Metra station. Funny thing to add on the RUOK program, when some of

the seniors calls to put it out of service, they refer to it " as their wake

up call " . :-)

Sandy

Morton Grove Police

Morton Grove Illinois

[Guest guest]

This was my main problem with this program.

They'll say that...

>Our crime prevention sets it up mostly

And...

>Our RUOK program, is computer generated

However...

>but it is up to dispatch to put the calls out of

service if the people are not going to be home.

>It is up to the dispatcher to first try calling the residence

>we send

officers to the residence on a Check the well being call.

>Funny thing to add on the RUOK program, when some of

the seniors calls to put it out of service, they refer to it " as their wake

up call " . :-)

If you have the time and personnel to run this type of program, it's great.

But keep in mind, no matter what they say, dispatch will probably

end up running the program.

Weintraut