Norwood Hospital Launches Cold Facts Lifesaving Medical Card Program

Norwood Hospital Distributes Medical Information Cards for Residential Refrigerators

An elderly woman writes information on a card at a kitchen table, with an open refrigerator in the background. Outside, a police officer hands cards to an elderly couple near a sign for a local police station.

The “cold facts” of the matter are that a small card taped inside a refrigerator could save a life some day. In a project called “Cold Facts,” Norwood Hospital is providing small cards that the public can pick up at the Norwood Police Station to fill out with medical information that would be valuable to emergency medical personnel should there be an emergency in the home. For instance, if a person has a pacemaker or is a diabetic, that information would be on the card to alert the emergency personnel.

Hospital officials said the card should be placed inside the refrigerator that family members use “regularly” because the refrigerator matches for a convenient and uniform location for the emergency personnel to find. The card is kept inside the refrigerator in a plastic sandwich bag—thus eliminating the danger of asset notes taped to the outside of the refrigerator—their eventual loss. A red adhesive dot is also given out with the cold facts card to be placed on the outside of the refrigerator.

The cost of the program is minimal to the hospital, according to a spokesman—their eventual loss. The cards are free to the public in Norwood and surrounding areas. The cards can also be placed in a glove compartment of a car, and the red adhesive dot on the windshield next to the safety inspection sticker. The hospital has already distributed a number of cold facts cards to senior citizens. For those senior citizens who do not already have cards, they will be available at the senior citizens Norwood Drop-in Center or at the housing for the elderly project office. Besides the information requested on the front of the cold facts card, hospital officials recommend additional information, such as whether an individual wears contact lenses or dentures, be written on the back.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger