This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Vial of Life Campaign Continues in North Haven

Fire Department and Senior Center officials hope to save lives.

The North Haven Fire Department and Senior Center are teaming up to increase awareness about the Vial of Life campaign.

Vial of Life is an ongoing campaign in North Haven that was introduced four years ago as a means to help emergency responders provide faster, better and more efficient care to senior citizens. 

The campaign encourages the use of a literal vial in the shape of a large pill bottle in which the individual keeps a record of vital information for first responders, such as current medication, ailments and illnesses, preferred hospital should hospitalization be required, dependents/caregivers, and any other important information. 

Find out what's happening in North Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This lets our elderly residents know that we do care about them and we are looking to better treat them by knowing their medical background and history,” said North Haven Professional Firefighters President Anthony DeSimone. 

The kits are available free of charge at the Senior Center (189 Pool Rd.) and fire house (366 Washington Ave.) upon request. Funding for the campaign comes from the fire department’s letter campaign. 

Find out what's happening in North Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This is a free tool that speaks for you when you can’t speak for yourself,” said Senior Center Director Judy Amarone. “This is just another tool to keep you independent, like eyeglasses, hearing aids, canes walkers...I highly recommend this for all senior citizens and anyone who lives alone.”

Amarone says that the vial acts as invaluable aid to emergency responders by immediately and clearly communicating to them all of the most important information about a patient. This way, emergency responders can focus on treating the patient rather than asking them questions. 

She also stresses the importance of keeping the information listed as current as possible by frequently updating the vial. Those who act as caregiver for other individuals should include that information so those dependents may be alerted. Vice versa, those who are cared for by a caregiver should include that information so that the caregiver may be informed of the situation.

“We’re trying to spread the word to the many senior citizens living in their own homes,” said Amarone. “We need to reach those people as soon as possible. It’s important.”

To request your own Vial of Life kit, DeSimone can be reached at (203) 376-0763 or via email at adesi47@comcast.net

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.