STILLWATER, Okla. — Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce declared a state of emergency starting Friday that the city says is "based on the medical health of the community.
The City of Stillwater says the Oklahoma State Department of Health will be helping them deploy the Medical Reserve Corp, and they're issuing a statewide call for healthcare volunteers.
The announcement comes ahead of a busy weekend for the city with Labor Day events and Oklahoma State's first football game of the season.
MORE >>> Oklahoma State holding COVID-19 vaccine clinics before 2021 home football games
“With the upcoming holiday weekend, several large events and our current lack of available beds and staffing, we are extremely concerned about an additional surge of patients needing medical care,” said Shyla Eggers, Director of Public Relations at Stillwater Medical.
The Medical Reserve Corp deployment would provide more nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists and medical assistants throughout the weekend at minimum.
Overflow tents will be put up Friday morning outside the Emergency Department.
“It is critical that each of us become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear masks when possible," Joyce said.
The city is also hosting a vaccine clinic before Saturday's game. For vaccination locations, CLICK HERE.
"Our health professionals have incessantly warned us that we may reach the point when much-needed medical attention, COVID or non-COVID related, may not be available. We have now reached that critical threshold where our hospital no longer has available staffed beds and without each of us making necessary health changes, the trajectory is anticipated to continue declining.”
The state of emergency is scheduled to be in place through Monday, Sept. 20.
Trending Stories:
- Broken Arrow pastor arrested outside Tulsa Women's Clinic
- DOWNLOAD the 2 News Oklahoma app for alerts
- West Tulsa neighborhood fed up with construction project
- FOLLOW 2 News Oklahoma on Facebook
- Man dead after north Tulsa 'self-defense' shooting, suspected shooter released
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
