Operation Vial File
By Sgt. Tom Jedic
Fanwood New Jersey is a small borough which is densely populated with a mix of young families and seniors that have roots in the community for generations. The Fanwood Police Department wanted to reach out to all residents and people that work in the town, so in 2004 a Community Policing Alliance was created. The group meets monthly and addresses a wide array of topics including quality of life, crime suppression, fund raising for community programs and "just about anything brought up" adds Sgt Tom Jedic, the alliances liasion and creator.
A recent project which was undertaken has created a great response from the communtiy, "Opeartion Vial File". "It's so simple it's scary" added Jedic, "We've looked at numerous medical information kits utilizing the vial or prescription bottle as a holder and created a custom one for our residents".
The program works like this, a resident can obtain at no cost a wide mouth, easy open prescription bottle, the bottle contains an informational sheet which lists medical info, i.e. medicines, ailments, contacts, doctor info, family contact info, alergies and special needs. The sheet is kept in the vial which is placed in one spot only, on the inside refrigerator door. A decal which is included is placed on the outside refrigerator door.
"The idea was to assist any police or medical responder find vital info quickly, reduce the scavenger hunt" said Sgt Jedic. "Often valuable minutes are lost and can lessen chances of proper aid when we can't dind out what medications or ailments a person has". Placing the vials in a standard location and the decal on the refrigerator door helps to standardize the retrieving of the info. "Everyone has a refrigerator, so now our officer's are trained to glance at the refrigerator door, if they see the decal they retrieve the info sheet and that helps the rescue personnel gain knowledge they may otherwise not have or waste time searching throughout the home for".
The vials were supplied at no cost by a local convenience store/pharmacy chain, the entire program cost no money at all. To date over three hundred of the vials have been supplied to everyone from seniors to families with special need children and everyone in between. Sgt Jedic has received numerous inquiries from police agencies nationwide that are now up and running with the program. "We didn't re-invent the wheel, we just took an already existing idea and customized it for our town".
Sgt. Tom Jedic of the Fanwood, NJ Police Department is involved in Community Policing and local Senior's affairs. More of Sgt. Jedic's tips can be found on the Fanwood Community Policing Page
