BOLLINGER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT HONORED

The Bollinger County Sheriff's Department, under the direction of Sheriff Dan Mesey, was presented the County Achievement Award by the Missouri Association of Counties at its annual convention at Kansas City last week.

Bollinger County was one of five counties out of Missouri's 114 to be honored. Jasper, Lincoln, St. Louis and Polk counties were also recognized.

Bollinger County was recognized primarily in two area: a notification system which provides important data about the sick and the elderly; and the Bollinger County Sheriff's Posse, a 73-member volunteer group that assists the sheriff's department in rescue and crisis situations.

The Bollinger County sheriff and three deputies cover about 900 miles of county gravel roads. Under Mesey's leadership, an emergency notification system for the elderly has been implemented.

An index card is filled out by any county citizen, which gives his name, directions to the residence, three names and phone numbers of people to contact in case of an emergency, his doctor's name and phone number, as well as a brief explanation of current medical problems.

The information is entered into the computer and, with it, the Sheriff's Department can dispatch an ambulance and provide medical information prior to the emergency medical rescuers arriving on the scene. Relatives are notified and instructed to go to the scene or to the hospital. Also, during severe weather, the sheriff's dispatchers call everyone in the computer file to check on their well-being.

The second program is the county posse which is comprised of approximately 73 volunteers. The posse is designed dot search for lost persons and is made up of horseback riders, four-wheel drivers, walkers, and communication personnel. Each member of the posse must complete 16 weeks of training in such areas as incident and survival management, first aid, navigation, search techniques, evidence handling, tracking, analysis of lost person behavior, search probability theory, air operations and traffic control.

In addition to the searching responsibility, the posse is called upon to assist medical personnel during severe weather.

The posse is a member of the National Association of Search and Rescue and has assisted other counties during times of crisis.

The Missouri Association of Counties presents the award on the merit of six rules of compliance: (1) Counties whose reorganization of county departments or agencies have achieved greater effectiveness in the county organization. (2) For the institution of new procedure systems and techniques which improve the operation of the county. (3) For enhanced communication with or reporting to the public. (4) For successful cooperative efforts with other levels of government. (5) For successful development and implementation of a new, innovative program. (6) Or for significant improvement in working relationships between the county governing body and other elected officials.