File of Life initiative in Palm Beach helps first responders provide efficient, effective medical care

An initiative sponsored by a pair of Palm Beach civic organizations aims to increase access to prompt and quality medical care on the island.

The File of Life program, launched nationally in 1995 by a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization and instituted locally by the Citizens' Association of Palm Beach and Palm Beach Civic Association, provides medical information to first responders when patients are unable to do so.

When first responders arrive at a patient's home on an emergency call, they can access a form created by File of Life that has been filled out by the patient and includes their allergies, medications, contact persons and other vital information.

That information is used to provide immediate and appropriate medical care, said Lynn Foster, a director with the Palm Beach Civic Association who helped launch the local File of Life initiative two years ago.

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"If I should be scraped off the street, it's likely I'll probably be really disoriented and not able to remember the last four digits of my Social Security number," she told the Daily News. "But if this card is on me, it'll allow a first responder to give me the most efficient, effective medical care."

File of Life medical forms include space for people to list their name, age, address and physician's name; medical data such as medications and dosage; emergency contacts; and preferred hospital and pharmacy.

The forms have been distributed throughout the town, and are available online, Foster said.

Once the forms are filled out, they are placed in a red File of Life sleeve that can be stored in homes, cars, places of business or wallets.

"You can fill out this form and keep a copy of it with you at all times," Foster said. "You can keep another one by your meds, and you can put another one inside your door or in your glove compartment."

The forms are a valuable tool for first responders, said Gardiner Hempel, treasurer of the Citizens' Association of Palm Beach and a former volunteer firefighter.

"First responders approach an incident or a scene and are immediately taking in every bit of information that they can see and hear to assess the situation to make their immediate response more effective," Hempel said.

"So when a first responder responds, hopefully they have instant access to more relevant, accurate medical information so that they can swiftly, accurately and effectively respond to a patient in need. It's all about augmenting their training instinct with real-time data. It's a very effective tool," he said.

During a meeting of the Palm Beach Civic Association's health care committee in the fall of 2019, .Foster, who had developed the habit of writing down her medical information, suggested that other residents do the same.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue Chief Darrel Donato, who attended the meeting, showed a great deal of interest in the idea, Foster said. Palm Beach is an older community, and encouraging residents to write down their medical information would reflect that demographic, she added.

When Foster heard about File of Life in early 2020, it seemed like the perfect fit for what she already had been doing.

The Palm Beach Civic Association adopted the File of Life initiative and planned to distribute the forms at its annual meeting in April 2020, but the pandemic forced the meeting to be moved to a virtual format so they were instead made available online. Forms also were distributed to Civic Association members by mail.

In January 2021, the forms were provided to residents at the town's first vaccine event, and later distributed through the Society of the Four Arts and other organizations.

The Citizens' Association of Palm Beach took over sponsorship of the forms last fall, and the organization, which represents the interests of residents living south of Sloan's Curve, continues to distribute them to its members and throughout the town, co-chair Donald Singer said.

"We hope that our membership will encourage one another to fill out their forms," he said. "We think it is a very important item to have in your home. One never knows when it might be needed. Better to be prepared than not to be prepared."

To access a File of Life form, visit www.thecitizensassociationofpalmbeach.org/fol.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: File of Life initiative boosts access to quality care in Palm Beach