Yellow Dots Alert Emergency Responders After Illinois Car Accidents

 Posted on January 11, 2012 in Car Accidents

If you have been driving in Illinois recently, you may have begun seeing yellow dots on cars in the lower corner of rear windshields. These yellow decals are part of a statewide initiative to provide important medical information about vehicle occupants to first responders.

In the event of Illinois motor vehicle accident, the yellow dots alert first responders that vital medical information about a vehicle's drivers or passengers is located in the vehicle's glove compartment. The medical card in the glove compartment gives the participant's name and provides a photo identifying them. The card also lists their emergency contact, physician, and medical information including allergies, current medications and health conditions, and recent surgeries.

This type of information can be crucial to a victim's survival after a serious auto accident. Victims have the best chance of survival after a catastrophic injury if they are properly treated within the first hour, the so-called "golden hour". The Yellow Dot Program gives first responders the tools they need to quickly and effectively treat accident victims.

Mike Bredemeyer of the Springfield Fire Department explained the program's importance, "We believe the Illinois Yellow Dot Program could save lives."

Yellow dot medical cards can be completed for any drivers or passengers of a vehicle, including children. Those interested in participating in Illinois' Yellow Dot Program can go to Got the Dot? for more information. For those in Sangamon County, the yellow dot kit distribution center is located at the Sangamon Count Department of Public Health.

Source: Got the Dot?, Illinois Division of Traffic Safety