Capital update: House committee studies rural EMS system
By State Rep. Randy Randleman
Oklahoma House of Representatives
The House is wrapping up its final interim studies for this year, and we expect to complete them by early November.
On Thursday, I attended an interim study before the House County and Municipal Government Committee to learn more about ambulance services in rural Oklahoma. The study was organized by Rep. Jim Grego of Wilburton, and this is an issue that we are both concerned about. Eastern Oklahoma severely lacks emergency services, and some areas don’t have access to ambulance services at all.
I began researching this issue several years ago after a constituent reached out. They lived only a few minutes from another county’s EMS station, but were told they had to use the ambulance more than half an hour from their house because of county boundaries. I was informed that EMS believed they couldn’t cross county lines.
A lot can happen in 30 minutes, and it’s vital that Oklahomans receive emergency care in a timely manner. It saves lives.
We also discussed the difficulty many services have with finding houses in rural areas. Currently, counties will share location information for homes and buildings with the state, who then shares it with GPS providers like Google and Bing, but some counties refuse to share this location information. As a result, GPS directions can be inaccurate and further delay these life-saving services.
Lance Terry, the 911 operator for the state of Oklahoma, told legislators that the state is using a 911 system that hasn’t been updated since the 1960s. He said the system has been manipulated to work with wireless technology, but it needs a complete overhaul. The last time our 911 system was updated, cell phones and the internet hadn’t even been invented yet.
With interim studies wrapping up soon, we’re focusing more on our upcoming special session to address redistricting legislative and congressional boundaries.
The Legislature drafted new legislative districts during session this spring, as required by our state constitution, but they needed to be amended after we received final data from the U.S. Census Bureau in August. Data was delayed due to the 2020 census being extended during the pandemic.
A proposed map for congressional boundaries hasn’t been finalized, as we wanted to hear public map submissions first.
In special session, which begins Nov. 15, the House and Senate will vote on the proposed congressional and the amended legislative district maps before they both go to the governor for final approval.
Our nonpartisan redistricting staff is finalizing the map drafts and will release them prior to the start of the special session. I’ll provide details on those maps when the drafts become available.
As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns I may be able to assist with. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed serving as your state representative and look forward to continuing to work for the people of eastern Oklahoma. My contact information is (405) 557-7375 or randy.randleman@okhouse.gov.
Thank you for the honor of representing District 15.
Rep. Randy Randleman represents District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which includes portions of Haskell, LeFlore, McIntosh, Muskogee, Pittsburg and Sequoyah counties. Randleman can be reached at 405-557-7375.