Good Medical Care Is in the Cards

During a recent medical emergency at the Wythcliffe Plaza senior living center, Santa Ana paramedics found an elderly woman so ill she couldn’t talk.

Paramedic Jim Larsen shot a glance at her refrigerator. Bingo! The woman had one of the Santa Ana Fire Department’s new magnetized File of Life medical information guides on its door. It told him not only her medical history but also which area hospital kept her records. And it may well have saved her life.

The Santa Ana Fire Department had been to Wythcliffe just the week before to issue the first of its File of Life cards. They are used by only a few departments so far--Costa Mesa, for example, began using them last year. But Santa Ana fire officials hope the cards will catch on and be used countywide.

On Thursday, fire officials began issuing the cards at its second senior housing center, Rosswood Villa, and found an enthusiastic response.

“We’ll give you the 100% best treatment we can, whether you have a card or not,” Larsen told residents. “But if you have an emergency, this card can save important minutes helping us know what to do.”

Paramedics report many frustrating instances where they must treat older people without any background about their condition.

“This gives us a ballpark look at where we stand,” said Octavio Medina, the Fire Department’s education director, who added that seniors are the city’s fastest-growing minority.

On Thursday, Rosswood Villa residents clutching plastic bags containing their medicines patiently stood or sat in wheelchairs in a long line, waiting to have their pictures taken and for help filling out their cards.

They ranged in age from 66 to 105--the latter would be Thelma Gammell, who turns 106 in October. She lives alone, Gammell said, and yes, she has needed paramedics before.

“I tend to fall a lot,” she said with a chuckle.

Cornelia Jimenez, 71, mother of 14, brought eight bottles of medication for her heart, diabetes, high blood pressure, and to improve her calcium. She takes six kinds of pills every day, and that’s information that paramedics need to know.

When Jimenez saw the Fire Department’s flier advertising the cards, she knew she wanted one.

“You just can’t give them too much information,” she said. “It’s most considerate that they’re doing this.”

The File of Life is a red plastic, magnetic card with a pouch for a medical information guide. The picture slides behind the guide, so paramedics know who they’re treating.

If residents do not live in a city that offers a File of Life system, Medina suggests calling the local fire department for suggestions on the best way to keep medical information readily available.

“Anybody with a history of medical problems should have something available for paramedics,” Medina said. “And the refrigerator door is the first place we’ll look.”