By: Mark Moffa
WASHINGTON – Louise Gernhardt can’t forget the story she read about an infant who almost died in a car accident.
A 6-month-old boy suffered a life-threatening head injury after the vehicle in which he was riding was involved in a head-on collision. The driver was left unconscious, leaving police unable to obtain the child’s identity.
Luckily, an address book was located in the wreckage and the boy was airlifted to a hospital for emergency brain surgery and has since fully recovered. Valuable time, however, was lost in the search for identification. and medical history information.
The incident prompted the creation of a sticker – called TIKE, toddler information kept for emergencies – to be placed on the bottom of a child’s seat to assist emergency personnel in identifying a child in cases like the 1995 incident.
Ms. Gernhardt, a Robbinsville resident, recently saw an article on the TIKE program in a magazine.
"I decided this would be a worthwhile project and went ahead and got the funds for it," Ms. Gernhardt said.
Ms. Gernhardt, who works for Hilb Rogal Hamilton in Marlton, is the president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Mercer County and a member of the Insurance Women of Mercer County. She was able to get the organizations to sponsor the program.
Ms. Gernhardt said she is providing local hospitals, fire and police departments with the stickers, and was scheduled to pass out stickers at SeptemberFest in Hamilton last weekend.
The stickers provide information to identify the child, emergency contacts, doctors’ names and numbers, medications, and allergies.
People interested in obtaining a sticker should contact their local hospital, police or fire department, or independent insurance agent.
For more information, call Ms. Gernhardt at (800) 531-4589.
