Carver County Brings Back Emergency Response Decals For Homes
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Carver County is bringing back an old-school technique to help them better respond to emergencies.
Barb Anderson-Toland says her 5-year-old Lucas needs around-the-clock care.
"Lucas has rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata. It's a very rare, terminal form of dwarfism," Anderson-Toland said.
She worries that if a fire or medical emergency ever happened at her home, her son would not be able to communicate what's wrong to the first responders.
"He's blind, mute, deaf, eats out of a feeding tube," Anderson-Toland said.
Carver County Sheriff Jason Kamerud says they just launched the new emergency response decal program. There is a variety of stickers that residents can pick up for free to put on their homes and cars.
"It's pretty helpful for the deputies when they're trying to tailor their response to meet the needs of the person when they're at the call," Kamerud said.
Anderson-Toland says the stickers provide peace of mind.
"It's nice knowing that somebody else will know from the outside without even having to look in what's going on," she said.
Anderson-Toland says there's more people in Carver County then you think that need to communicate these messages to first responders in case of an emergency.
"I had a couple moms say, 'Hey, my city's out of them, can you give me one?' I said, 'Absolutely, you know, give me your address,' so I actually picked up five," she said.
And the Carver County Sheriff's office is seeing those results.
"The deputies are telling me that they are flying off the shelf," Kamerud said.
They have already had to put in a second order this week. Decals can be picked up at any city hall within the county.