Safelink - Message in a Bottle

In June 2002, East Lothian Council, together with Scottish Gas, apetito, NHS Lothian and Help the Aged launched the East Lothian ‘Message in a Bottle’ scheme at a ceremony in John Muir House, Haddington.  The scheme enables the Fire, Police, Ambulance and other caring agencies to provide immediate help to vulnerable people when they have an emergency such as an accident, sudden illness, or after a physical attack in the home.  Vital details of any medical conditions, medicines, allergies and someone to contact are written onto simple forms, which are stored in a plastic container (‘the bottle’) kept in the fridge.  Two stickers, one by the front door and one on the fridge, let the emergency services know to look for the bottle.

Other areas in Scotland are already running similar schemes.  In Perth and Kinross, where the project was first launched, at least three lives have been saved through the scheme, which has provided vital information in around 50 emergency situations.  One woman in Perthshire was so impressed with the scheme that she wrote to the local press to tell how important it can be.   She described how the life of a neighbour, who had lain unconscious overnight before being discovered, may have been saved because of the information contained in the bottle in the fridge.  It let the emergency services understand immediately what kind of treatment was needed and allowed them to contact the person’s family straight away so that they knew what had happened.

The Council has distributed 12,000 bottles around the county and you can get them from GPs, clinics, libraries, lunch clubs, ELC housing offices, some Post Offices and other agencies, free of charge.  You can also get them from Scottish Gas engineers.

For more information, contact us at communitycare@eastlothian.gov.uk