By EMS1 Staff
JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — A police department created a program that will help first responders better identify patients with special needs.
KSHB reported that the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office created the “Take Me Home” program, which includes an online registry that will help responders with vital information about special needs patients.
“We can send that information out to the units in the field with a picture, the person’s likes, dislikes. We can call mom, dad, whoever it may be and let them know they, ‘Hey, we’ve located your loved one. Here’s where they are. They’re safe,’ and then we get them home safe again,” Sgt. Craig Walion, the Take Me Home supervisor, said.
The program also includes stickers to make incidents even easier to assess.
“They say, ‘Special needs person may not respond to verbal commands,’ with our Take Me Home logo,” Deputy Dylan Hurt said. “It helps relieve a lot more stress and it helps officers figure out how to de-escalate situations.”
Hurt said situations have come up where the stickers could have helped.
“The person is nonverbal and answers very literally. You ask them to see their license, well they’re taking it very literally. No, you can’t. You can’t see it right now because it is in my pocket,” Hurt said.
So far, the department has handed out more than 700 stickers.