Yellow Dot medical alert program coming to Ohio?

A proposed Ohio law would introduce the state to the Yellow Dot medical alert program, which is designed to help car-crash victims communicate with first responders.

The Yellow Dot program, which started in 2002 in Connecticut, has been stirring up interest nationwide thanks in part to two articles earlier this year in USA Today.

Participants in the program place yellow dot stickers on their vehicles’ rear windshield, which directs first responders at a crash site to a yellow folder placed in the glove compartment. That folder contains a photograph, plus a list of medical conditions, prescriptions, allergies and other important medical information.

In Ohio, recently proposed legislation in the Senate would establish the program under the Department of Public Safety, which would be required to take “reasonable measures” to publicize the program. Participation by members of the public would be free.

The Yellow Dot program is typically run by cities or counties, though Alabama is a notable exception because it administers its program at the state level.

That’s led to Alabama emerging as the “unofficial clearinghouse” for information about the program, with one traffic safety official telling USA Today that Alabama had been contacted by 33 other states seeking information. Illinois hopes to have a state-sponsored Yellow Dot program running by October.

The program’s popularity is apparently being driven by aging Baby Boomers. There are 32 million drivers older than age 65 in the nation, USA Today reported.