Decatur Co. Sheriff’s Office launches ‘Are You Okay’ program for seniors

DECATUR COUNTY, Tenn. — The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office has noticed that the elders in their community has been under represented.

The new “Are You Okay” program checks on elderly people to make sure that they are ok.

“What we do is put them on our call list and our volunteers call and just check and say, “Hey are you okay that day?” if we don’t get them on the phone then we got an emergency contact number and ask the emergency contact the status of them,” said Sheriff Dale King.

This program is volunteer led. Volunteers make the call to check the status of these residents.

“All we need to do is just call us at the Sheriff’s Office, (731) 852-3703, and just tell them you’ve got someone you want to put on the ‘Are You Okay’ program, and we will take the name and the address, and the emergency contact number,” said Sheriff King.

Calls can range from small conversations about the day, to something not working in the home, to an emergency.

“Chest pains or something, we will call the ambulance immediately and also dispatch our officers down to assist,” King said.

If this program interests you, Sheriff King has a way for you to sign up.

“Yes, they can call us here at the Sheriff’s Office and we put them on the list. We’ve got people now wanting to be volunteers, and a lot of people that want to help with it,” King said.

Currently they have only 30 elders signed up, but they are looking for more to ensure their community’s well being.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, so far the “Are You Okay” program has been successful.

For more local news, click here.