Press Releases
EMS/Fire Brigade Staffs Casino with Front Line First Aid
Posted on Friday, June 14th, 2019
EMS/Fire Brigade Captain on Top of Firefighter Training
Posted on Friday, June 7th, 2019
Hospital Food Pantry Going Strong Since 2002
Posted on Friday, May 31st, 2019
Leading Volunteer: Lula Finch, retired medical assistant, has been
volunteering at the Mercy Health/Love County food pantry since
opening day in May 2002. She arrives at 7 a.m. each Tuesday to
prepare for the 8 a.m. opening and remains until 2 p.m., assembling
and distributing food packages to people who are hungry or food insecure.
Mercy Health/Love County Hospital, Clinic, and EMS has been fighting hunger and food insecurity among patients and other county residents for almost 20 years.
About 300 households or roughly 10% of Love County’s 3,100 families benefit from the hospital food pantry every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers assemble and hand out a family food package. Each package contains about 8 canned or dried items, plus items of fresh or frozen meat or vegetables, as available.
In 2018 there were 15,100 food packages given out. Sharing in those packages were 15,600 adults, 3,600 seniors (age 60 or older) and 8,100 children. The number of food distributions has held steady since 2014. As a percentage of households, Love County fares better than the state as a whole where, according to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO), one in six residents need food assistance.
U.S. Department of Agriculture defines hunger as the physical discomfort of needing food but not having it. And food insecurity is a lack of financial resources for food at the household level, causing the family, at different times, inconsistent access to enough food for...
EMS/Firebrigade Veteran Aids Younger Crew
Posted on Friday, May 24th, 2019
911 Center Dispatchers Recognized During Special Week
Posted on Friday, May 24th, 2019
The “First” First Responders: Love County 911 Center dispatchers
gathered for a photograph and recognition from the Love County
E911 Board during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
Pictured are (front row) Anna Diaz and Coordinator Becky
Watkins-Norman; (second row) Kerri Manning, Wendy Laughlin,
and Shelli Bengfort; (third row) Seth Crockett, Brandy Brawley,
and Zach Aston.
The calls come in around the clock at the small office at 102 S. Front Ave. in Marietta. Operators wearing gray and purple shirts listen to a litany of emergencies, asking questions, issuing commands, and typing notes on computer screens.
This is the center of 911 traffic for Love County. Twenty-four hours a day, operators speaking into headsets direct emergency responders to every community and roadway. They dispatch all of Love County’s public safety agencies, from the police and the sheriff’s deputies to the volunteer fire departments and EMS ambulance.
They also handle nonemergency calls, which come in at 276-5898. This is the recommended number to call for general inquiries or reports for law enforcement. Dispatchers relay the calls to the sheriff’s department or Thackerville or Marietta Police.
On 911 calls, the operators follow scripts that guide callers to assist patients while an ambulance is on the way. They calm callers who are experiencing their own health, fire, crime, or accident emergency. They help with radioed questions from fire and medical workers...