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Free ID Program Allows Law Enforcement To Access Important Info To Help The Elderly

Sedgwick County Deputies Jaime Converse and Tim Hallacy.

A free ID program designed to assist older adults and their families in case of emergency is now available in the Wichita area.

The Sheriff's Elderly/Disabled Notification Intensive Outreach Response System (S.E.N.I.O.R.S.) is a program that uses a secure database that stores important information residents provide. Members are given business-sized cards to carry and a decal to indicate membership. Sedgwick County Deputy Jaime Converse says the card contains pertinent information.

“Such as where do they live, what’s their phone number, who is their caretaker, who lives with them and also the information that they would need on medical problems and what medicines they take,” Converse says.

The card can even provide information on member's pets.

“If there is an emergency and they aren’t able to articulate their thoughts, for example," says Deputy Tim Hallacy. "We want to save time and if we don’t have to go door-to-door asking people questions, calling a doctor asking them questions and so on. This really could be a lifesaver.”

Nearly 760 people in Sedgwick County are currently enrolled in the program.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 
 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.