SOUTH BEND — St. Joseph County first responders are working to assist the community by identifying the medical needs of a person at the scan of a bracelet.
With the implementation of CARES — Community Awareness Returns Everyone Safely — bracelets, community members, first responders and hospital staff can access the medical-related information of individuals who aren’t able to communicate it. By scanning a QR code on the back of a CARES bracelet and sending an automated text at the click of a button to emergency contacts, it can help people avoid emergency care and save the community money in ambulance and hospital costs.
President and CEO of REAL Services Karla Fales was part of the team that developed the CARES bracelet in Battle Creek, Mich., and brought it to South Bend in 2022 after its success there. Residents in Calhoun County, Mich., saved $675,000 in ambulance and hospital costs alone, Second Wave Michigan reported.
“We were finding that if someone was found confused or disoriented, they would take them to the emergency room,” Fales said. “They may or may not be able to provide information that’s needed.”
In Battle Creek, Mich., 1,500 residents had bracelets and 154 calls were made from them, saving the community around $165,000, just in emergency medical resources, Angelica Baginske, the director of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana, said.