By Ben Benton
The Chattanooga Times Free Press
DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — About seven or eight years ago, DeKalb County, Ala., Sheriff Jimmy Harris encountered a South Alabama elderly couple suffering from dementia who got lost after a grocery store trip.
They had become confused as they drove along U.S. Highway 11 and wound up in Collinsville, where they started unloading groceries at a home that wasn’t theirs, according to the sheriff.
The homeowner called the police and sheriff’s department and personnel got the couple’s names from their driver’s licenses, Harris said, but it took more than five hours for officers to find the pair’s family.
DeKalb’s newly implemented Yellow Dot program, launched Wednesday, could have saved time in that instance, and in the future it can help first responders save lives, Harris said. DeKalb is the 45th Alabama county to implement the Northeast Alabama Traffic Safety Office Yellow Dot program.
The “Yellow Dot” on a vehicle’s rear window tells first responders that a package in the glove box contains the driver’s identity, medical history, medications, dosages and allergies, and it can contain contact information when the driver is unable to communicate for himself.
Kelly Clayton, executive assistant to the sheriff, said second-day participation was slow at the sheriff’s office in Fort Payne, but she noted that folks all over the county can sign up at their convenience at a number of locations.
Participants have a photograph taken to be affixed to an information sheet containing their name, address, emergency phone contacts, medical information and the names of health care providers.
The “Yellow Dot” decal goes in bottom left corner of a passenger vehicle’s rear window or, for motorcycles, on the bottom left corner of the license plate, officials said. The dot directs emergency officials to the information package inside the vehicle’s storage compartment.
Copyright 2012 Chattanooga Publishing Company