Oologah-Talala EMS District

Our Mission

OTEMS provides timely life saving help to our neighbors using the best available equipment, staff and training.

History

The district was created in 2000 through a grass roots effort by the residents of the Oologah-Talala School District. The doors opened in December 2001 with one ambulance based at a station in Oologah and an annual call volume of just under 300.

Today the district has two ambulances on duty and two in reserve, handling over 1,300 calls per year. It has three office employees, a medical director, 30 licensed medics and one volunteer public information officer.

 It is governed by a five-member board appointed by the Rogers County Commissioners, and has an annual operating budget of $1.2 million. While it is subsidized by a 3-mil property tax, it also uses outside contract work to sustain a high level of service for citizens while keeping tax rates low.

Trained staff

All OTEMS units offer Advanced Life Support (ALS), which often means the difference between life or death for incidents such as heart attacks, strokes and major trauma. Medics are all nationally certified and state licensed. They continue their education with a minimum of 100 hours of additional annual training. OTEMS boasts an average response time of six minutes from the time a unit is dispatched until it reaches you—well above the regional average.

Equipment

The district owns four modern ambulances, each fully equipped with state of the art lifesaving technology. Units have voice contact with physicians available from the time a patient begins a trip to the hospital until the hospital takes over patient care. Units also have telemetry transmission equipment for those hospitals capable of receiving and processing such data.

Training Center

The District’s headquarters offers a training center for employees and opportunities for our neighbors to learn lifesaving techniques and good health practices. OTEMS is now a certified American Heart Association Community Training site. Please visit our website at www.otems.com for the latest calendar of classes, hands-on training and lectures.

Emergency Response Help

One of the nation’s most successful disaster response programs involves forming Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Assistant director Jackie Custer and PIO John Wylie are trained CERT instructors and soon will be scheduling classes to establish CERT teams for the Oologah, Talala and rural Claremore areas. Teams can be activated for disasters, or to assist in search and rescue operations. Those interested may call Jackie at the OTEMS office, 443-2350.

What to do in an emergency

REMAIN CALM!

Dial 911 or 443-4357 (443-HELP).

Speak slowly and clearly. Remember that to provide help, the dispatcher must understand what you need.

Be prepared to provide your physical address and driving directions. Keep your telephone handy in case the dispatcher needs additional information or direction.

When emergency help arrives, provide a medical history if possible. Also have available a list of all current medications or the prescription bottles for those medications.

Do not let people or animals disrupt emergency personnel as they work.

These simple steps can ensure that helps arrives promptly and can save your life or that of a loved one.