Towards the end of last year, Whitesboro Fire Department’s EMS Division began offering wellness checks for the senior community. The checks included taking a set of vital signs and interacting with the citizens and answering any questions they may have about the results and their health in general.
The checks are part of a greater effort to involve the department in the local community. One of the advantages of the city taking over EMS was the ability to expand non-emergency offerings for Whitesboro citizens. It is common now to see the med crews at community events, visiting with residents as they are out and about and interacting with visitors at the fire station who have come in to ask health related questions.
The fire and EMS crews are available at the station to check vital signs and recommend treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the fire station (providing they are not out on calls). The decision to make the short trip to the library was to specifically target the senior population that is not as mobile or may not have the resources to make an unscheduled trip to the fire station.
The library hosts Senior Game Days every Thursday at 1 p.m. The fire department will be there the third Thursday of each month at 2 p.m. to perform these free wellness checks which include checking blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and blood sugar level.
