By Nels Johnson
Marin Independent Journal
MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — The elderly, bedridden Point Reyes woman was barely conscious when Marin County paramedic Rachael Phillips arrived after an emergency call from a caregiver last month, and her life looked like it was hanging in the balance.
“She was very difficult to arouse,” Phillips said, adding officials learned that the woman’s prescription routine had changed the day before. Medics scrambled to piece together information, but most medical records were out of date. “I wasn’t quite sure what medications she was on,” Phillips said.
All turned out well as the woman was rushed to the hospital, but a new county program could have aided the life-saving process immeasurably, Phillips said.
It’s called the Vial of LIFE — or Lifesaving Information For Emergencies — and it involves a simple procedure in which detailed medical information is recorded and placed in a plastic container, or vial, that is then placed in the refrigerator. A red magnet is placed on the refrigerator, and a red decal put on a home’s front window or door. Paramedics can easily find the information they need to help in an emergency.
“The Vial of LIFE program makes it easy for us to recognize where the information can be located once we get into a home,” Phillips said.
The vial program, modeled after others across the nation, was launched in Marin this week by Supervisor Judy Arnold and the Marin County Fire Department. Free vial kits are available at all fire stations in the county.
Mike Giannini, a county fire battalion chief who serves as emergency medical officer, said the program could be a life-saver in situations where a patient is injured or ill at home and unable to communicate. Authorities across Marin logged 15,593 calls for emergency aid last year, he noted.
Arnold put the program together with Giannini and with help from her aide, Carolyn Glendening, after talking to Novato’s representatives on the county Commission on Aging. She said the program could be a godsend for Marin’s older adults, as well as everyone else.
“The Vial of LIFE is meant to help everyone — seniors, adults or children,” Arnold said.
Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health officials picked up the bulk of a $7,500 tab for the program, and Fireman’s Fund employees assembled 3,000 vial kits. Another 2,000 kits are being assembled Saturday by students from San Marin High School in Novato and St. Isabella’s School in San Rafael.