Cool aid to help save lives

IT may only be humdrum kitchen appliance, but your fridge could turn out to be a lifesaver.

In a new scheme being launched this week, people will be encouraged to keep a special airtight container in their fridge – but this one will not have cheese, left over tuna or coleslaw inside.

Instead it will contain vital personal medical information which could help save the lives of accident and emergency victims.

The scheme is called Data Link and is being launched in the Suffolk Coastal area tomorrow and will then be introduced across the county.

It has been organised by the Suffolk Neighbourhood Watch Association and is designed to prevent situations where the police, ambulance or fire service find a casualty in a house – but not the vital medical information, such as allergies and blood groups, that may be vital for their immediate care and treatment.

The system is simple. Personal details are written on a form, which is stored in a distinctive airtight plastic container kept in the fridge.

Two labels, known to the emergency services, are displayed on the fridge door and inside the front door.

Suffolk Neighbourhood Watch Association chairman Andrew Garrard said: "Data Link is such a simple concept – yet it can be a lifesaver, especially for anyone with a medical condition.

"When emergency services arrive in your home, they immediately have access to important information – and it's stored in the fridge because that's the one appliance which rarely gets destroyed in a fire."

The scheme is being supported by Britannia Building Society, which has met the costs of buying and producing the pots and information sheets.

The pots were prepared for distribution by residents of the Juvenile Centre at Warren Hill and will be available from both Britannia's Felixstowe and Woodbridge branches at a cost of 35p.