Here is a new emergency identification card being used in NYS – The Yellow Dot Program. With a unique identifier for responders, it can make it easy for emergency personnel to locate vital information when a victim can’t speak or respond. Do you have something similar in your area?
Click here to get your Yellow Dot Packet
I have seen a proliferation of this sort of program, in recent years, across many states and big cities. Many times it is a child seat kit (like the WHALE project from EMS-C) or a motorcycle helmet label, but the common thread is a “universal” ID that a community adopts. Unfortunately, there are too many “universal” ID’s and none follow a set format. Each one has a unique identifier, some with only that number and a phone number to call to have the info faxed to an ER (like GlobalMedNet, which is free with NAEMT membership), others with vague medical info (like the original and still common Medic Alert bracelets and amulets), a plethora of smartphone apps (mine displays some info on the lock screen of my iPhone), tattoos, keychain tags that get lost in a cacophany of loyalty and rewards program tags from every retail outlet in the region, and more, and even thumb drives with the EMS Star of Life imprinted on it. The best one I saw was at MedStar in Fort Worth, where you were given a free plastic card case with a magnet on the back to affix to your front door or refrig with a form inside telling of your medical history and ID info, but you had to respond to the patient’s residence because they almost never carried it with them when they left home. Most of these programs offer too little info, that is often outdated, and not accessible in a reasonable amount of time to EMS providers during the short time we are with them from scene to tertiary care. I’ll have to search you, and look through your phone, wallet, and keychain, but I’ll just take what I can get. It may not help me with much, but at least the hospital will have something more to go on while the patient stays there for a few hours or days.