STARKVILLE — While most picnics are all about food and games, the Oktibbeha County Triad Senior Picnic at the Oktibbeha County Community Safe Room on Thursday was focused on providing emergency resources and education to older citizens in the county.
“The Triad is for education,” Emergency Management Agency Director Kristen Campanella said. “… We’ve learned that if you get the information that you need to either small children or older adults, it spreads from there. And, this is a way we give back to them.”
Campanella said the Triad program is made up of three main components, “community, older adults and law enforcement.”
Shawn Word, Oktibbeha County Jail administrator, said the program is funded by a Department of Justice grant every year and provides some basic emergency equipment to older adults, like rechargeable LED lights and smoke detectors, along with the annual picnic.
During the picnic, Campanella and other county officials highlighted two public programs to the nearly 75 seniors present, specifically the CodeRED emergency alert program and the Are You OK? senior check-in program.
“CodeRED is paid for by the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors and the city board of aldermen, so it’s free for any resident of Oktibbeha County,” Campanella said. “… It’s an emergency alert they’ll get as a text, phone call, or email, based off their address. And you can select the alerts that you want, and that’s what you get.”
Campanella said CodeRED helps inform safe decision making and keep panic lower during weather-related emergencies, as alerts are sent only if the emergency applies to the user’s address.
“With this alert, if you get it, you know it’s coming towards your house,” Campanella said. “And it has worked. We’ve had a few people who told us that when that tornado came across Oktoc Road, they got that alert within three minutes of that tornado coming through their drive. … To save one life is worth it.”
Campanella said the alert program helps with seniors specifically, as older adults tend to check social media less frequently than others, but the program is encouraged for all Oktibbeha County residents.
Sheriff Steve Gladney also presented the free Are You OK? program, designed to help check in on the county’s seniors. Those registered for the program receive a daily phone call from the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office, and if they don’t pick up after the third call, they receive a wellness visit from deputies.
Gladney said this senior check-in program treats older adults the way he would want his own relatives treated.
“A lot of times, we go out and check on them and their phone is not working or something, but at least we know they’re OK,” Gladney said.
“That’s important to me. If I had a parent who lived here who was elderly, and I didn’t live here to go check on them every day, then somebody that I know would be out there to check on them.”
Gladney called the picnic a win-win for older adults and law enforcement in Oktibbeha County, as seniors are often a valuable resource to the sheriff’s office.
“If they have any issues in their community, something we need to know about, they’ll tell us,” Gladney said. “If they see a strange vehicle in the neighborhood, or a car sitting somewhere it’s normally not supposed to be, we know that.”
Besides the two main programs presented, there was also a safety demonstration by Starkville Firefighters on how to properly use a fire extinguisher, along with one-on-one lessons by OCH Regional Medical Center nurses on how to perform CPR.
“This was a great day to know what’s available to you when it comes to safety … and when it comes to fellowship,” senior Eileen Carr-Tabb said after the picnic. “… Not only was it a great day, but it was an informative day. Whoever came up with the idea of having the sheriff’s department talking (and) the fire department there … they touched bases on what we’re needing when we get to a certain age.”
Of course, a picnic is not a picnic without at least one game. The Starkville Pickleball Association was also present, inviting seniors to try their hand at the game and to stay healthy and active.
Oktibbeha County residents can text “OKTIBBEHAALERTS” to 99411 to receive the link to register for CodeRED or email [email protected] to sign up for the Are You OK? program.
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