Messge in a Bottle

Message in a bottle is a simple scheme, which involves a small canister, an information form and two stickers, which are given to people with medical problems or allergies. People fill in the form with their medical details, and the telephone number of who to call if they are ill, particularly if they have a pet, who will need looking after. They put the form and a copy of their repeat prescriptions into the canister and put the canister in the door of their fridge, where it is easy to find and protected from fire. One sticker is put on the outside of the fridge door and the other on the inside of the front door. Ambulance Crews and GP’s who do out of hour visits, are part of this scheme and they will look out for the stickers.
This is a national scheme and we have been running it in Bristol Primary Care Trust since 2005. In that time we have given out over 10,000 bottles. Elizabeth Williams from Bristol PCT said “Message in a bottle has been very successful, NHS staff find the information useful and people on medication or with an allergy find it reassuring. The scheme has saved lives”.
We have just received another batch of bottles, so we have lots to give away.
If people would like a bottle for their fridge, they can ask their Community Nurse or contact David Manning, on 0117 9002266 or email him on david.manning@bristolpct.nhs.uk
and he will gladly put a bottle in the post.