A Carroll County program that provides senior citizens with cellular phones for emergency use while traveling will be introduced at state and national conferences on aging next month, a state official said yesterday.
Sue F. Ward, secretary for the Maryland Department of Aging, took that news to the county commissioners in Westminster yesterday, saying the innovative safety program called "Cellular Safety" could spread throughout Maryland and beyond.
The free program, which began in January, is sponsored by the county state's attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department and the county's Bureau of Aging.
"It enables seniors to borrow a donated cell phone as easily as a book from a library," said Gary Cofflin, an investigator for the state's attorney's domestic violence unit.
As soon as Ward learned about the Carroll program, she donated her cell phone to the county Bureau of Aging rather than discard it after buying a new one.
Ward realized the value of having a cell phone about 10 years ago when her car broke down at 11 p.m. on the Capital Beltway in Washington.
"I was afraid to get out of the car, and others were afraid to stop and help," she recalled. "I sat there until 2 a.m. before I was able to flag down [police].
"After that, a car phone was not a luxury, but an essential," she said.
Whether other jurisdictions or states adopt Carroll's program will be up to those officials, said Janet Flora, chief of Carroll Bureau of Aging.
"Once they learn about it, many may want to set up their own program," she said.
For Westminster's Earl and Janet Lambert, having a cell phone on a monthlong trip to Florida in February was comforting.
"We thought of buying a phone until reading about the new program," said Earl Lambert, who retired at age 62 after 40 years in customer service with Black & Decker Corp. "I don't really need one other than for trips."
Of 15 seniors who have borrowed a phone, none has had to use it for an emergency, said Cofflin, who keeps a log on each borrowed phone.
"They return and talk of how secure it made them feel," Cofflin said. "Even adult children have said how good they felt knowing their parents had a cell phone on a trip."
Earl Lambert also noted that he was impressed by the "customer friendly" attitude when he stopped at the state's attorney's office to borrow a phone.
"They brought it outside to the car and hooked it up, making sure it was in working order, and when I brought it back, they made me feel like I was doing them a favor to drop it off," he said.
Since learning that all cell phones, activated or not, can be used to make a free 911 call, Cofflin began soliciting phones to be donated rather than be discarded.
He wanted them for victims of domestic violence who might need emergency assistance, but soon saw their value as a safety item for senior citizens.
The cell phones can also be used to dial #77, a direct line to Maryland State Police as well as police agencies in several Atlantic coastal states, Cofflin said.
"It was absolutely a no-brainer," said Flora, recalling her initial reaction when Barnes and Coff-lin brought the idea to her.
"It's so simple and uncomplicated, yet so valuable," Flora said. "And the best part, it doesn't cost anything."
Commissioners Julia Walsh Gouge and Donald I. Dell expressed pride that possible state and national acceptance of "Cellular Safety" would bring deserved credit to Carroll County.
"People here are constantly looking for ways to help make life better for other people," Gouge said. "I'm very proud."
Next month, the program will be presented to state officials at Workshop '99 in Ocean City and to federal administrators in Philadelphia at the Administration on Aging, a national conference.
Dell called the innovative program "typical" of what has been going on for years in Carroll County.
"Thirty years ago, other states came to see what we were doing here," he said. "It's nice that others like what we are doing in Carroll County."
Seniors wishing to borrow a cellular phone may call the state's attorney's office at 410-386-2671.
Pub Date: 3/26/99