Salt Lake City Ambulance Service to Distribute Data Kits

Southwest Ambulance becomes the 911 ambulance responder for Salt Lake City residents with medical emergencies on April 3. This weekend, they are distributing a tool they hope families will use to help communicate in the event an emergency makes speaking or clear thinking impossible.

It's called an "Envelope for Life." Thousands of kits will be distributed in the Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune this weekend, each one containing a data sheet, an envelope and a decal.

Southwest and the Salt Lake City Fire Department are asking residents to fill out the data sheet, providing information on each family member, including allergies and medications, medical history that could be important and more.

After it's filled out, it should be stuffed in the small adhesive packing envelope, which is to be stuck to the right inside wall of the refrigerator. The decal, a bright-red asterisk sign, goes on the front of the fridge. Emergency responders can look on the fridge to see if there's information inside they should know.

Families that don't receive a kit in their newspaper can easily download the form from the Southwest Ambulance Web site, www.southwestambulance.com/envelope.html, and put it in any envelope that can be taped inside the fridge. The words "Envelope for Life" should be marked on the outside of the envelope, and the logo can be cut out and taped to the fridge door.

It's also important to update the forms periodically, Southwest says.

It's similar to programs used in other communities. Different locales use different tools, such as a prescription vial in the freezer containing vital information.

A call to 911 by Salt Lake City residents will trigger a response from both the Salt Lake City Fire Department and Southwest Ambulance. Crews from both have been trained to look for the red-asterisk decal, says Josh Weiss, spokesman for Southwest.

"It's an extra tool if someone is unconscious to tell them that some of your medical information is on the inside. Or say someone had a stroke a year earlier, and as a result certain types of things still result, like a handicap on the left side of the body. If we arrive and you can't speak, we don't know what your problem is. We have to try going from scratch to figure it out."

The envelope can warn emergency crews of a pre-existing condition or tip them off to what is old and probably not the problem today. It can also be a help for people who can speak but are disoriented or muddled. And it can provide details that the loved one standing nearby trying to answer questions may not know, like how many times a day you take certain medication, Weiss says.

The form also asks for an emergency contact and provides a place to let responders know of a "do not resuscitate" order. That must have a doctor's letter attached; otherwise responders will attempt to revive the individual. The form has a line for a Social Security number, which may raise some concerns because of recent identity theft cases. Weiss says individuals can provide as much or as little information as they want. Anything helps responders who have no information with which to begin, he says.

Medical personnel look for clues when responding to an emergency, including prescriptions or notes that might be posted on the fridge, such as doctors appointments or emergency contact numbers, he says.

The kits are being assembled this week at the Supported Employment Center, an employment program for adults with disabilities. E-mail: lois@desnews.com

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