OSERVS needs volunteers for 2022

Oktibbeha Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services, OSERVS, does so much for the community and for those in need in times of disaster. If there is a fire, tornado, freezing weather, or any other emergency, OSERVS is there to give assistance to those affected.

There is no Red Cross chapter in Oktibbeha County, so OSERVS does what a Red Cross chapter would do. In order to fully help those in need, OSERVS needs volunteers to step up to the plate.

“Volunteers would be on call when there’s a disaster or an emergency in the community, such as freezing temperatures. We may help the Oktibbeha Emergency Management Services, volunteer at their designated place for a warming center,” Kayla Gilmore, the Executive Director of OSERVS, said. “We also help with the tornado shelter, which is located on Lynn Lane, and there we may help E911 may sign in people, give out water, and do different things there. But as a volunteer, we also have things on the low end when there’s not a disaster, like creating comfort kits.”

Comfort kits are given to disaster victims, and they include essentials many don’t think about but are basic staples to making anyone feel human. They include toothbrushes, towels, deodorant, hairbrushes, and other basic hygiene items.

“Often people who are in a disaster don’t think about that, but we’re here to cover that and make them feel a little more at ease during an incredibly stressful time,” Gilmore said.

During disasters, such as tornadoes, there is much more work to be done than just manning the shelter, and the small OSERVS board needs help in aiding the community. “In the case of a disaster, when you have a tornado and you have a tree down and debris all over the yard, it would be great to have somebody that could get on the roof and use a chainsaw and to take debris from the yard to the road,” Hildred Deese, OSERVS board member, said. “It would be good to have people to collect water and deliver it to our people. Many times we have set up portable feeding stations and feed those affected and the EMS people. We would need people to go to the grocery store to buy baby formula and diapers and all that kind of stuff, to separate clothes out to wear - you know winter clothes, baby clothes, long sleeves, that kind of thing and take the clothes and get it set up for people to come in and grab what they need.”

OSERVS gives CPR classes and has blood drives, and volunteers would help at these events. They would also assist at city and county events like parades where they serve as the first aid team.

Volunteers would be on call because disasters are unpredictable and can strike at any time of the day or night.

“We don’t know what time a disaster is going to hit. I get calls all the time at nighttime at three o’clock in the morning saying there was a fire. It doesn’t matter,” Gilmore said. “I go, my other people go, or the disaster committee [of the OSERVS board] go. We make sure they get a blanket, a hotel room for the night, and a

comfort kit. It’s all the time. If you know there is going to be bad weather, call me and ask me if we are doing anything. I’m fine with being forward like that.”

Volunteers can be any age and there is no special requirement to become an OSERVS volunteer, but volunteers who are certified in CPR are greatly appreciated. Interested parties can contact OSERVS Executive Director Kayla Gilmore at 662-3842200 and she will take down your information, or you may email her at Oservsdirector@gmail.com and she will send you a volunteer form for you to fill out.

“Volunteers are important and we need them because who is going to be there in a time of need?” Gilmore said.