OPP partners with MedicAlert to better serve vulnerable people

OPP partner with MedicAlert The OPP has partnered with MedicAlert to better help vulnerable people in an emergency. Craig Momney explains.

The OPP and MedicAlert Foundation Canada have joined forces with a new campaign aimed at equipping officers with more tools to help locate vulnerable people during an emergency.

"If someone is non-verbal, they can't speak - but a bracelet can speak for them - and instead of having to use a telephone traditionally to call MedicAlert, we can get it right through our dispatcher because every second counts," explained OPP Staff Sgt. Julie Paddon.

For more than five decades, MedicAlert has helped medical professionals and people with severe medical conditions, including those living with autism, dementia, Alzheimer's, and other brain-related injuries.

"MedicAlert's identification services and electronic health information database is a vital link between first responders and the community when faster, informed action makes all the difference," said Françoise Faverjon-Fortin, CEO of MedicAlert Foundation Canada in a release.

This service will provide officers with important data such as a photo, identifying information, past wandering history, triggers, de-escalation techniques and other medical information that can be used in an emergency situation. It can also help to locate a lost or missing vulnerable person quickly.

Six OPP detachments having signed on to be a part of this new initiative, and over the coming months, MedicAlert will partner with more police services, including Rama OPP.