Saving Lives with Pitt County’s “Vial of Life”
Why Do We Need It? How Does It Work? Who Benefits? How Can My Faith Community Participate?
Why Do We Need It?
Last year, 40,000 ambulance calls were dispatched to Pitt County residents and visitors --- and each time
the patient served was someone’s parent, child, spouse, kin or friend.
Sometimes the patient can tell us what’s going on; what medical condition he has; what meds she’s taking.
That’s important, because this vital information promotes faster, appropriate pre-hospital care. It permits
medics to tell the ER doctors and speed definitive diagnosis and treatment.
Sometimes patients can’t communicate. Maybe they’re unconscious. Or, the patient is a child who can’t
understand what’s happening. Or, it’s an older person who has moderate or severe memory issues. Or, it’s a
person who doesn’t speak English very well.
If the patient can’t communicate, we turn to whoever made the call. Sometimes they’re ‘good Samaritans’
who want to be helpful, but don’t know anything. Sometimes they’re family members, so anxious about their
loved one they can’t focus on the patient’s medical history. If we’re lucky, we scoop up all the pill bottles to
take to the ER; in many cases EMS just follows response procedures without patient-specific information.
Knowing medical history can save lives! If someone’s unconscious and we know she’s a diabetic, it
speeds treatment. Knowing about past surgeries can be a lifesaver at the hospital. And knowing exactly
what medications and doses the patient is taking, lets ER doctors assess and treat the patient for exactly
what he/she needs!
How Does VIAL of LIFE Work?
The Vial of Life consists of (1) a small data collection sheet, (2) a plastic pill container, and (3) a sticker for
your front door. By filling out the Vial of Life data collection sheet; rolling it in the vial; putting it in your
refrigerator’s freezer; and putting a sticker on the door you use to come into the house, you’ve got a tool that
speaks for you when you can’t!
Across the nation, VIAL of LIFE programs make life-saving health information available to EMS
responders and hospital ER doctors. And this May we’re launching a Vial of Life pilot program right here in
Pitt County -- thanks to the combined teamwork of the Pitt County Lions’ Clubs, the Interfaith Alliance of
Eastern Carolina, Pitt County Emergency Medical Services, Pitt County Emergency Management, Greenville
Fire/Rescue and Pitt County Memorial Hospital.
Who Benefits?
Anyone in your family that has a medical condition or who has had surgery or who has any allergies or
who may not be able to speak for him or herself in times of an emergency can benefit. Your information stays
private because you keep it at home (in the vial in the freezer of your refrigerator) and is only seen by
emergency responders if you call for an ambulance to your home. When emergency responders see the
yellow sticker on the door you use to enter the house, they’ll know that you have the Vial of Life in your
freezer!!!
Intended Outcomes -
I. Our goal for the 2011 pilot project is to try to place Vials of Life in about 5,000 households.
At an average of about 3 people per household, this would give us a penetration of about
15,000 people out of our county’s 150,000 population.
II. With the experience we have in:
a. Distributing the Vials of Life, and
b. Feedback from emergency service personnel about the pilot program’s effectiveness,
we can decide IF and HOW we may want to do a full county roll-out in 2012.
How Can My Faith Community Participate?
Pitt County Vial of Life has no fancy organization. Your faith community decides if you will participate
and how you will participate.
1 - We recommend that each House of Worship have its Pastor/Minister/Lay Leader present
the voluntary program to the congregation.
2 - We’ll provide you with a free Vial of Life data collection form so you can print one copy for
every person in the congregation.
3 - You can buy plastic medicine vials if you prefer, but most congregations ask members to donate
empty pill containers. Since the only thing going in the vials are the data collection sheets, no
need to worry about whether the pill container is “child proof” or not.
i} Be sure all labels are removed so that personal information is kept private.
Ii} Do not accept any container with medicine in it. If you find a container with
medicine in it, give it to the Sheriff’s department for proper incineration.
<Don’t toss them in the garbage; we don’t want meds getting into our drinking
water.>
4 - The only thing you’ll need to spend money on is the special yellow sticker that your congregants
will put on the lower right hand corner of the main door they use to enter the house. The stickers
cost 10-cents each, but you only need one sticker for each household.
i} Without the special sticker, rescue personnel won’t know that you have a
Vial of Life in the freezer, but total cost for a church with 100 families is just $10.00.
Other Information -
A. This program is 100% volunteer operated. There are no officers, salaries or
government-funded budgets.
B. The Pitt County Lions Clubs and the Interfaith Alliance of Eastern Carolina are available to
provide training to community groups and faith communities that choose to participate.
CLICK here to go to printable version of the below explanation documnent and other forms