The Carle Place Fire Department has implemented a residents with special needs pre-plan program which will enables the fire department to gather pre-incident data about a resident(s) with special needs. The special need could be any of a wide range of items such as a person with a disability, elderly and not so sure footed anymore or maybe just a person living alone with no emergency contact in the area. All these people have special needs in their own way. The thing that makes them all similar is, if we are called to an emergency at their residence, it would require us to give additional attention to their special need. The person that is disabled or elderly and can not move so well may not be able to escape a fire as well as a person without a disability. Knowing where that person sleeps or the most common place in the residence the person lounges is extremely important information to the arriving fire personnel in a fire. The same is true in medical emergencies, being able to retrieve a medical history about a person could make the difference between life and death. This is what makes a person living alone, whether young or old, a person with a special need. If they call for an ambulance saying “I don’t feel so good and need an ambulance” and by the time help arrives they are unconscious, now what? Are they diabetic, do they have a heart condition, what medications do they take, what medications are they allergic to? If we give them a medication will it react to what they may have already taken or will it produce an allergic reaction making the situation worse? Can we call someone for the answers? These factors and much more affect the success or failure of our response to an emergency. Being able to gain this data before or at an emergency could make all the difference in the world. This is why the fire department has started this program, to better fulfill these person’s needs in a time of crisis.

This program works in many different ways, first we gather Pre Incident Data about the person and their needs. This data is very generic and non specific. It lets us know your residence is a location where there is a person(s) with special need. It identifies the person(s), lets us know their date of birth and what their special need is and what maybe required. It lets us know where in the residence this person sleeps and can most commonly be found. It also lets the fire department know where in the residence we can find that person’s medical history, which includes allergies to medications and where they store their current medications. It lets us know who to contact in cases of emergency, if there is a DNR, Medical Proxy or a Living Will and it lets us know which hospital their doctors are affiliated with so we know which hospital to transport to. We also ask you to provide us with information about any hazards we may encounter upon arrival to the residence such as oxygen in use, a large dog that is “not so nice”, or even a complex home layout which is not common to that style home. This data is important and although it is not specifically requested on the report, we ask you to advise us in the “comments” section of the report.

Plan Report: (click to open), print and complete to the best of your ability then return to: CPFD Pre-Plan Committee, PO Box 22 Carle Place NY 11514-0022

The second thing we ask of a resident with special needs is to prepare a Vial of Life. A Vial of Life is simply all your medical data placed in a nice neat package for first responders whether it is the Fire Department, Police Department or Emergency Medical Technician. All Emergency Personnel have been trained in how to locate these Vial’s of Life.

There are 4 Steps in Preparing a Vial of Life:

1. – Fill out the Vial of Life form Click to download a form, decals and instructions.

2. – Place the completed form and any other important documents that an emergency care provider may need to better care for you, including any Living Wills or DNRs, etc. into a Plastic Bag. We also ask you to place a current photo of yourself into the bag so we can ensure proper identification of a special needs person.

3. – Tape or Secure this Baggie to your refrigerator door with a magnet, at eye level.

4. – Tape a Vial of Life Logo to front of bag and a second Logo on your front door, bedroom door or any common area in home that would be highly visible to the first responders. This Logo can be downloaded or stickers can be provided by us upon your request.

More information about the Vial of Life program can be found at www.VialofLife.com or at www.SeniorSafety.com Vial of Life forms and stickers can also be provided free of charge through these websites.

The final thing we ask from each resident is to keep their information Up To Date. With regard to the Vial of Life it doesn’t really affect the fire department as dramatically as the Pre Incident Plan. We would hate to be alerted to a residence thinking there is an elderly person with a serious cardiac condition, force entry into the home only to learn that the person passed away 9 months prior and the house was sold and now has a new occupants.

This partnership must be a two way street. We cannot help you if you do not allow us to help you. The more data we have prior to an incident, the better we can serve you. We want to assure you the data collected gets placed into our secure Fire Tracking System and will only become available to responding personnel when we are alerted to your residence. Once the emergency is completed the data is removed from responders view. The only people that will have access to your information are a select few members that are responsible for entering the original data and updating the system upon receiving new information.

We thank you for allowing us to better our service to you!