AGING IN PLACE TO HOST PRESENTATION FOR SENIORS

Aging in Place, an initiative of the Livingston County Health Center, is hosting an event on Wednesday, February 27th at 10 a.m. in the Health Center classroom, to educate area residents about things they can do to help improve their own outcome in emergency situations.

Jonathon Nolan, Firefighter/Paramedic at the Chillicothe Fire Department, will be presenting a program about Stroke and STEMI Awareness.  STEMI, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction, refers to a serious and deadly form of heart attack in which a coronary artery is completely blocked and a large part of the heart muscle is unable to receive blood.  Medical personnel are literally on the clock to get the artery opened to save the patient’s life. 

Emergency responders encourage everyone to call 9-1-1 if they suspect any type of heart attack.

Lucy Sweiger, Director of Health Information at Hedrick Medical Center, will speak about the importance of electronic health records in emergency situations, and how you can make sure your records are available electronically.

Those attending the presentation will also learn about Knox boxes, known officially as the KNOX-BOX Rapid Entry System.  A Knox Box is a small, wall-mounted safe that holds building keys for fire departments, emergency medical services, and sometimes police to retrieve in emergency situations.    

Attendees can also find out more about ordering a 911 Rural Location sign through the Health Center, which helps identify a specific property so emergency services can find it quickly.

There will be light refreshments and beverages at the event, which should last roughly an hour.   The public is welcomed to attend.

PROJECT TO IMPROVE LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

AGING IN PLACE LIVINGSTON COUNTY LEADS PROJECT

 TO IMPROVE LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Livingston County Health Center would like to announce that their office, located at 800 Adam Drive, will be the site to purchase 911 Rural Location Signs through an initiative of its Aging in Place Coalition.

The coalition met with Livingston County Commissioners, County Clerk Sherry Parks, Chillicothe Fire Chief Darrell Wright and volunteer fire chiefs, Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox, Chillicothe Police Department and MODOT Engineer Austin Hibler after identifying the need for senior citizens living in rural areas to be located in a timely matter in emergency situations.  The group came up with a set of specifications for uniform signage easily recognized by emergency services including fire, ambulance and law enforcement. 

The signs are 18”x 6” blue prismatic highly reflective double-sided aluminum with four-inch white numbering.   The recommendation is to display the sign either near the driveway entrance of the property, or on the mailbox of the residence.  The preference would be for the sign to be placed on the same side of the road as the home and beyond the MODOT right of way, which is 15 feet from the center of the road on both sides.

Applications for signage are available at the Health Center, located at 800 Adam Drive, or on their website www.livcohealthcenter.com .  Two mounting options are available, with hardware included.  Residents can choose mailbox mount with nuts and bolts or post mount, which includes a bracket. Six foot perforated u-channel posts that meet MODOT guidelines will also be available for purchase. Cash, check or money order will be accepted as payment.

Missouri Vocational Enterprises will be creating the signs and Grand River Multipurpose Center will be the point of distribution when they arrive.   Volunteers are still being recruited if you would like to assist in the project. 

County residents of any age who live outside city limits are encouraged to purchase signage to mark their properties for their own personal safety.   The more locations marked out in county will help emergency services provide the best level of care.

There is no county ordinance or deadline attached to this initiative, but the benefit to the homeowner and occupants can’t be overstated.  The City of Chillicothe has an existing ordinance for house numbering to encourage residents to mark their properties for quick response as well.

Models of both types of signage available are installed at the health center for viewing.