By MArk Ouellette
The Union Leader
MERRIMACK, N.H. — The Merrimack Fire Department is the first in the nation to use “Key 2 Life,” a portable flash drive that stores potentially lifesaving medical information about each firefighter should an emergency arise.
During a Key 2 Life presentation yesterday at the Central Fire Station, Fire Chief Mike Currier said the department purchased 100 of the devices for about 70 full-and-part-time fire personnel to use. Assistant fire chief Dave Parenti said it’s mandatory for all staff to keep the device in their possession while on duty.
Key 2 Life, which costs between $29 and $39, has a one-gigabyte capacity and comes in a variety of styles including credit card, dog tag and keychain. Merrimack fire plans to use a small waterproof steel version.
Florida-based Safe Guard Medi-Systems Corp. produces lifesaving Medi-Chips. Medi-Chips have a USB plug and can be inserted into any computer worldwide to access a person’s medical history and information. However, Macs and computers using the operating software Linux require Windows emulation.
Ronald Hoy, president of Merrimack-based RD Sales & Marketing, who is partnered with SGMS Corp., said Key 2 Life is an “invaluable” device that provides instantaneous access to data that normally might take more than 30 minutes to acquire by rescue personnel following an emergency.
The Key 2 Life system can store a wide range of information pertaining to medical, dental and family histories including X-rays, medications a person is taking, do not resuscitate orders and consent for emergency treatment of a minor.
Hoy said the only downside to the device is “it’s only as good as the information put in (it).”
Richard Dellarciprete, vice president of RD Sales & Marketing, said none of the data is on the Internet and the device features 256 Advanced Encryption Standard, which is the same encryption the U.S. government uses to protect privacy.
He said the information, which is automatically saved upon entering it into the Key 2 Life, can be typed in and X-rays can be scanned and then transferred onto the memory device.
Kevin Chambers, a firefighter and paramedic, said most people don’t keep track of their health histories so having fire personnel carry theirs using the Key 2 Life devices would be helpful.
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