Medic cards can save lives

Last month, a senior at the Ridgewood Older Adult Center and Services developed symptoms of what looked like an allergic reaction, but staff members were not sure. The woman could not remember what medicine she was taking or if she was allergic to anything.
As her condition continued to deteriorate and while staff waited for a family member to arrive to take her to a hospital, the senior gave a case aide her pocket book in order to get her insurance card ready. While looking for the card, the aide noticed a medical alert card that detailed all of the medications the patient was taking as well as things she was allergic too.
&#8220We were afraid she was going to go into shock,” said case aide Lisa Alejandro. &#8220If she didn't have that information before she got to the hospital who knew what they would have done.”
The elder woman was taken to the hospital and they found out she was having an allergic reaction to something she had eaten, but she returned safely to the senior center within a few days.
&#8220Thankfully, the cards made a giant difference, and they may have saved her life,” Alejandro said.
The medical card is part of a program that Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi recently launched in his district where they distribute medical cards to seniors in case a doctor or emergency worker needs information. The cards contain the person's blood type, medical conditions, allergies, medications they are currently taking as well as information for an emergency contact.
&#8220That's [what happened to the Ridgewood senior woman] exactly the point of the program,” Hevesi said. &#8220God forbid something bad happens to a person, the card could save someone.”
Hevesi's office has already distributed nearly 2,000 of the cards to the elderly at senior citizen centers, street fairs and have even gone into buildings to encourage seniors to sign up for the card. With the card machine, Hevesi's office can usually print out a card for a senior right on the spot, or they will mail the senior the card a few days after they sign up for the program.
While this is not a state-funded program; the money is coming out of Hevesi's campaign budget; he said he is going to continue to promote the program in his region.