Carpentersville joins statewide Yellow Dot crash safety program

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Updated: April 3, 2012 10:15AM

CARPENTERSVILLE — The best chance for survival following a traumatic injury in a car accident comes when those injured are seen and treated within the first hour. In the moments after a crash, seconds count, according to emergency officials.

That’s why Carpentersville has joined the Illinois “Yellow Dot” program, according to a press release from the Carpentersville Fire Department.

“This program will truly save lives in situations where occupants of cars involved in crashes are unconscious, by providing medical information that is vital to the correct and successful treatment by first-responders,” Carpentersville Fire Chief John Schuldt said in the release.

The Illinois “Yellow Dot” program is a statewide initiative designed to provide first-responders with vital medical information about vehicle drivers and passengers in a car accident.

A driver participating in the program places a yellow dot on the lower driver’s side corner of his or her vehicles’ rear window. This alerts emergency personnel that vital medical information can be found in the glove compartment, according to the fire department.

That information is recorded on a yellow card, the department said. It includes a photo of program participants, along with the participants’ names, emergency contact, personal physician, medical conditions, recent surgeries, allergies and current medications.

To participate, Carpentersville residents can pick up Yellow Dot packets during regular business hours from the finance department at Carpentersville Village Hall, 1200 L.W. Besinger Drive. Packets also can be picked up at Sherman Hospital, 1425 N. Randall Road, Elgin; the Kane County Health Department, 1240 N. Highland Ave., Aurora, and the Elburn Police Department, 301 E. North St., Elburn.

More information is available online at yellowdotillinois.org.