A computer program is saving lives in Rowan County.
The “Are You OK?” program has been in operation here since the late 1980s, and this summer alone it may have saved two lives.
The computer-operated system — made possible by a joint effort between the Rowan County Department of Senior Services and the Rowan Communications Center — calls 70 clients each day to check on them.
When a client receives his or her phone call — at a designated time, which is the same each day — they are supposed to pick up the receiver. The computer recognizes that the phone line has been picked up and goes on to the next client.
If a client does not pick up the phone line or gets a busy signal, it will call back up to two more times. If no one picks up the phone, the computer alerts a dispatcher in the 911 Telecommunications Center and automatically prints out a client sheet. This sheet gives the dispatcher information about the client.
The dispatcher first tries to call the number one last time to make sure the computer did not malfunction. If the line is busy, the dispatcher has an operator listen on the line to see if anyone is talking. If no one answers or no one is talking on the line, the dispatcher then notifies an “emergency key holder,” who may be a friend, neighbor or relative. The key holder will then go check on the client.
If a key holder is not available, the Telecommunication Center sends a law enforcement officer. Each client must provide a key to his or her law enforcement agency, so an officer doesn’t damage property if he has to get into the house.
On Tuesday, an elderly woman did not answer her 8 a.m. call.
The dispatcher attempted unsuccessfully to contact her key holder. Salisbury Police responded to find the woman unconscious. Her file showed that she is diabetic, and Emergency Medical Services determined she may have had a stroke.
Officials have no way of knowing how long the woman was lying in her home.
Paramedics rushed the woman to Rowan Regional Medical Center Tuesday morning, where she remains.
In June, another elderly woman fell at 10 :30 p.m. while reaching to turn on her air conditioning. She lost her balance and fell to the floor. Her scooter has a belt to secure her, but she didn’t have it fastened. Diagnosed with leukemia in February, she was too weak to get up. She usually has a cell phone on the scooter but didn’t have it with her when she fell.
She laid on the floor until 6 the next morning when she received her Are You OK? call.
“There’s no telling how long she would have laid there” had she not had this service, said Frank Thomason, telecommunications manager.
When she did not answer, the dispatcher called her brother.
Paramedics and firefighters were dispatched to the home and helped the woman, who is home today and doing well.
The names of both women are being withheld because they both live alone.
The Are You OK? program is open to any resident of Rowan County — regardless of age — who requires a daily telephone safety check. The service is free.
For more information, visit the Senior Services’ Web site at www.co.rowan.nc.us/seniorservices/ or call 704-636-2344.
Contact Jillian McCartney at 704-797-4253 or jmccartney@salisburypost.com
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