Rural Oklahomans To Benefit From Enhanced 911 System

Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law to upgrade the state’s 911 emergency system.

The Haiden Fleming Memorial Act will upgrade infrastructure that allows the system to move from analog to digital.

Representative Jim Grego was the principal author in the state House of Representatives. He said the current technology is more than 40-years-old and doesn’t adequately serve rural Oklahomans.

“We are miles from the hospital. We’re miles from the ambulance,” said Grego.

The new system is expected to precisely locate callers and dispatch the nearest resources.

There is also a provision in the new law to fund and mandate CPR training for 911 operators. The American Heart Association in Oklahoma says this provision is critical for those suffering cardiac arrest.

“350,000 people in America will experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and only 1 in 10 of those people will survive,” said the organization's Director of Government Relations Alisa Northcutt. “But this bystander CPR will increase their chances by 51 percent and that’s pretty drastic.”

It may have increased the chances of survival for a 22-year-old Oklahoman named Haiden Fleming. 

Fleming suffered cardiac arrest after finishing lunch with his parents and the ambulance couldn’t find them.

“They were too late,” said Senator Blake “Cowboy” Stephens.

Senator Stephens said Haiden’s death made the problem personal.

“I’ve known him pretty much all his life,” said Sen. Stephens. “He loved to hunt and fish.”

Senator Stephens was Haiden’s former school counselor. He amended the law to name it in Haiden’s honor.

“God has something that he’s going to use Haiden’s life for,” the senator said. “Because there is going to be a lot of lives saved through Haiden’s loss of life.”

The law takes effect November 1, 2023.