Canister "could be a life-saver"

12.18.48pm GMT Mon 10th Mar 2008

• A POTENTIAL life-saver: that is how the Data Link scheme was described at a launch event hosted by Richmond Council this week.

The scheme enables people to keep crucial medical information at home which could prove a lifeline in an emergency. The information is stored in a small plastic canister and kept in the fridge. A matching label is fixed to the outside of the fridge and another above the lock on the inside of the property's main access door. Data Link is intended to be of help to people of all ages across the community. Parents with young children at school could find it just as helpful and reassuring as the elderly or infirm.

It is a joint initiative between the Community and Police Partnership (CPP) and the police, and funded by the CPP. The scheme is strongly endorsed by Richmond Council and the Community Safety Partnership. The launch, held at York House, was intended to raise awareness of the Data Link canisters and their availability to everyone. The Deputy Mayor of Richmond upon Thames, Cllr Helen Lee-Parsons, was among those who attended.

Cabinet Member for Communities, Sir David Williams, said this week: "This excellent scheme provides reassurance to residents as information kept inside the canister could prove vital in an emergency, giving ambulance crews, for example, life saving information. Deciding to keep a Data Link canister in the fridge could prove one of the best decisions you'll ever make. So far hundreds of residents in our borough have taken advantage of this free scheme and we hope many more will in the future."