MedicAlert celebrates 48 years in Turlock
By Kimberly Horg
Turlock Journal
March 27, 2004
“When I have special projects that they are capable of doing I call them in to help,” said Helen Anderson, coordinator of volunteers for MedicAlert. “They work in the mail room putting kits together and various other jobs. They really like volunteering because when they don’t hear from me for awhile they’ll call me and ask if there is any work for them to do.”
The volunteers are a big help to the organization. There is volunteer luncheon next month to thank all the people who donate their time, she said.
“My favorite thing that I like about my job is when we get a member testimonial. It makes me feel motivated to do a better job,” Srinivasan said.
Their emergency call center is open everyday, 24 hours a day to answer calls to help those in need with an emergency medical situation. They have their information stored in a database and contact the proper care provider depending on that particular situation.
“We make sure someone is here 24 hours a day to handle calls. I rotate shifts with another supervisor to ensure that the group of customer service representatives are supervised. I have worked here for 16 years, I love working here! Knowing that I am helping someone else makes everything worth wild,” the call center team leader, Melody Howard said.
During the day is the heaviest call volume so more representatives are on staff then than at night. There are about 20 employees working during the day to answer calls and about five people at night. The customer service representatives go through a five week training program on how the system works and have phone training. There is a medical resource team to answer the emergency calls which consists of a group of nurses and EMTs, she said.
On the wall of fame are letters from former presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George Bush that offer thanks to the organization for their good work. There are numerous pictures of all the celebrity donators which include James Earl Jones, John Ritter, Scott Baio, James Whitmore, Tony Randall, Jack Lemon, Bob Hope, Jayne Kennedy, Ed Asner, Mike Douglas, Eric Estrada, Donnie Osmond, Dorothy Malone, Peter Nero and celebrity athletes including Chuck walker, Hall Linier, Juan Marichal, Ron Hunt, Billy Casper and Bob Lee just name a few.