ATHOL — The Sheriff of Worcester County made several stops in the north county Tuesday to distribute hundreds of “File of Life” cards — cards that provide crucial health information for EMTs and other public safety personnel responding to emergencies in the home. Sheriff Lew Evangelidis and Dr. Moses Dixon, Executive Director of the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging, visited the senior centers in Athol and Gardner, as well as the Heywood Hospital/City of Gardner vaccination site at the PACC on Kendall Pond Road, to drop them off.
The card is folded and kept in a small plastic “case” outfitted with a magnet that allows it to be posted on any refrigerator or standard medicine cabinet. Information provided on each card includes medical information, doctor’s name and contact information, emergency contacts, current list of medications, allergies, and — on the new cards — COVID-19 vaccination details.
Asked by the Athol Daily News why a county sheriff would tackle an initiative dealing with public health rather than criminal justice, Evangelidis said, “When it comes to being a sheriff, the essence of our job is to serve the community, and we can serve the community in many different ways.
“Obviously, running the jail — running a professional facility — is my primary job. Through the years, I’ve really tried to serve the community in many different ways, including through charity work, the coat drive, growing and distributing vegetables — there are ways to just give back.”
When the coronavirus pandemic swept through the county, state and nation last March, Evangelidis said many of those individuals and organizations whose primary goal is to help people in need “had to step back.”
“I felt it was really important for the sheriff to fill that void,” he explained. “Our reserve deputies, our volunteer organization, the sheriff’s department as a whole — we should step into that void.”
Evangelidis said he and his department — working alongside groups like the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging — have done their best to address the needs of one of the county’s most vulnerable constituencies.
“We’ve been partnering with them for a long time,” he said, “doing things like educational events. They help sponsor the annual coat drive; they helped get us new coats for seniors this year.
“And one of the things they approached us about was rebuilding the File of Life program.”
That program, he said, can be crucial in the effort to save someone’s life.
“We’ve been handing them out for years,” the Sheriff went on. “I have one on my refrigerator. My parents have them on theirs. I’d recommend that everybody have one.
“When emergency responders show up at a house — because seconds can save a life — they’re trained to look for this. So, if someone is unresponsive, they can open this up, and there’s a card inside that lists all your information. All these things are really important for people to understand as first responders.”
Kimberly Roy, communications director for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, told the Athol Daily News that approximately 1,400 of the cards were distributed Tuesday — 250 at the Athol Senior Center, another 100 at the Gardner Senior Center, and around 1,000 at the Polish American Citizens Club on Kendall Pond Road in Gardner, which serves as the Heywood Hospital/City of Gardner.
Roy said the cards cost about a dollar each but added its partnerships, including that with the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging, allow the Sheriff’s Department to distribute them free of charge.