Alert cards for emergency services

South Yorkshire Police have an alert card scheme that helps emergency service workers. This could be a police officer, a firefighter or a paramedic. It helps them communicate better with autistic people, people who have a learning disability or those who have mental health difficulties.

Joining the alert card scheme is free.

Applicants are asked to give information about:

• their communication needs
• situations they find difficult
• things that help them
• emergency contacts

These are then stored in a central database.

People registered on the scheme will get a credit-card-sized card. They can show this to emergency service workers if they find themselves in crisis. Workers will be able to get information about the person from their call handling system. This will help them to adapt their communication and actions to fit. 

A ‘passport’ is supplied. This can be used in places like bus stations, train stations or shopping malls.