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Ashley Hayes Reporting A Utah man has come up with a new life saving tool he says everyone should have.
He teamed up with the Sandy City fire department to test his product, and they give it two thumbs up. So what is it and how does it work?
Chris Owens lives by a retired EMS responder. He told Owens about all the accidents he went to where people died because paramedics had no way of knowing about their medical history, allergies or conditions. It bothered Owens, but it gave him an idea.
It's a scenario like this one: A car hits an elderly woman crossing the street in Bountiful and no one knows who she is. Or a diabetic driver wrecks his car in Bluffdale and runs away. Police believe he may be drunk.
Chris Owens/ Creator, iD Device: "What I was seeing is the lack of information available to emergency response personnel at the scene of an accident or even with a lost or missing child. There was so much time and effort that was required to find out who they were."
Thats why, with the help of the Sandy City Fire department, Chris Owens created a tiny USB port equipped to hold all your medical information. And, it plugs right into laptops EMS, firefighters, and police all carry in their vehicles.
Rick Howard, Medical Officer, Sandy City Fire: "Just having that info accessible, not having to ask somebody to get the correct information, it's vital."
"There are a lot of situations where time is brain matter. Time is heart muscle. And that's the most important thing."
"Medical history, conditions, even records. Do not resuscitate orders, living wills."
All of it can be stored in Owen's "iD." If it catches on, it could take the guess work out of emergencies so a diabetic doesn't just get lucky.
"We found the gentleman some distance away. We were told had it been much longer, we could have a serious medical circumstance on our hands."
Or, as in Bountiful, family won't learn of a loved one's death because she is the Jane Doe police are asking the community to help identify.
Owen's iD Device is new and has only been available for a few weeks. Sandy City fire is trained to look for the device. Owens is in the process of visiting other stations and government agencies to alert them to the USB device.
