Emergency services have launched a life-saving scheme in Littlehampton that is the first of its kind in the country.

Police, firefighters and ambulance crews say vital time is lost when they attend incidents and find unconscious people and have to search for essential medical details.

They are asking residents to use new canisters and jot down all their personal details and store them in the egg compartment of their fridges. It is thought the Data Link service could save critical minutes and lives. The plastic canisters will contain information about ailments, allergies, medication, and details about doctors and next of kin.

More than 10,000 canisters will be delivered to residents in Littlehampton, along with display notices to alert the emergency services that the scheme is in operation in the house. And an additional 10,000 are about to be printed.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Informal conversations with members of the

emergency services have indicated that on too many occasions, they are called to households where the resident is unable to advise them

of essential medical details.

"Some medical attention may therefore take longer to administer because of the necessity to establish whether the patient is taking certain drugs or is allergic to

others."

The spokesman said: "The police spend considerable time trying to establish next of kin details that are not readily available in most instances. "The project is intended to eventually extend county-wide but it was decided the initial launch should be centred on one town in the county."

The scheme will be officially launched on Friday at the Arun Civic Centre in Littlehampton by Judith Buckland, High Sheriff of West

Sussex, and Sue Yoxall, of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association. Representatives from local police, fire and ambulance services will also attend the launch.

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