File of Life
Medical Cards
In an emergency, seconds can mean the difference between life and death. Having immediate access to a person's medical history can save precious time and even lives.The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office is now offering File of Life cards, free of charge, to all senior citizen residents. The cards, which are designed to hang from your refrigerator, contain a residents' complete medical history, including medications he or she may currently be taking.
Purpose
"If we get a call to the house of a woman who is unconscious or unresponsive, we'd have no knowledge of her medical history or how to contact another family member," said Sheriff Greg Champagne. "If we know, for example, that she is a diabetic, then the first thing we would do is check her sugar level."Function
The File of Life comes with a plastic holder, a magnetic strip to hold the packet in place on the fridge, a small packet to be placed in their vehicles glove compartment, and two stickers to be prominently placed on the outside of the residents' home and on the windshield of the vehicle. These stickers serve as visible alerts to emergency medical technicians that the home's occupants' medical histories and special conditions are on the file card inside.With an accurate, immediate medical picture, treatment can begin. The Sheriff's Office has File of Life cards for distribution parish-wide