EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS)

All Cape Coral firefighters must be an Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic. All Cape Coral fire stations are capable of providing advanced life support.

Of the calls run annually by Cape Coral firefighters, 73% of them are medical in nature. These include:

Cardiac Arrest
Traumatic Injury
Vehicle Accidents
Drowning
Breathing Problems
Diabetic Emergencies
Stroke
Falls
Overdoses
Seizures
General Illness

Basic Life Support (BLS)

Includes administering CPR, using an AED, wound bandaging
Provided by Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) - minimum standard for Cape Coral firefighters

Advanced Life Support (ALS)

Includes administering IV medications, endotracheal intubation, 12 lead ECG interpretation
Provided by Paramedics

Vial of L.I.F.E. and MyID

Vial of L.I.F.E.

When responding to an emergency, the first thing responders want to know is your vital information. Every person should have this information readily available, especially those with medical needs such as heart or respiratory conditions, stroke or seizure history, severe allergic reactions, and any person on medication. When you can't speak for yourself, when you are confused, in pain, or scared, the Vial of L.I.F.E. can speak for you. The Vial of L.I.F.E. (Lifesaving Information For Emergencies) is a small plastic container that holds a form listing vital information and is stored in your refrigerator door, enabling emergency workers to quickly locate your health and medical information in a time of crisis in order to administer proper medical treatment and care.

Instructions for proper use:

Complete form in pencil to allow information to be easily updated or changed.
Complete one Vial of L.I.F.E. form for each person in the household.
Place completed form in the plastic Vial of L.I.F.E. container.
Store the container in your refrigerator door.
Put provided sticker on your front door or window closest to your front door and magnet on your refrigerator door to let emergency responders know that you have vital information available.

Vials of L.I.F.E are available for pick up at all Cape Coral fire stations for no cost. For a list of fire station locations, click HERE.

MyID

MyID provides an easy way to access, store, and manage your health information. It is a virtual medical profile that can be access anytime, anywhere. Every MyID product comes with three access points (QR Code, 24/7 live operator, website) making it fast and easy for first responders to access your profile and health information. For more information on the program, visit getmyid.com.

Benefits:

Free online profile accessed right from the product itself.
Manage your health records and medical information.
Add a dependent profile—perfect for parents and caretakers.
Choose what information to show on your public profile.
Free app on iOS or Android devices.
Link multiple MyID products to your profile.
Share all your medical information with your doctors.

The Cape Coral Fire Department has the following MyID products available for the community at no cost: tags, sticker kits, wallet cards, and child bracelets. To request one or more of these items, please email cceoc@capecoral.gov.

Sharps Containers

All Cape Coral fire stations have free containers to properly discard needles and other sharps available for the community. When the container is filled, return it to a fire station for disposal and to receive a new, empty container. There is no charge for the container or the disposal. It is important that sharps are discarded in appropriate containers and not in coffee cans, milk jugs, bags, cardboard boxes, etc. This is for the safety of our community and firefighters as needles are able to stick through ineffective containers and potentially injure someone.

Do you or someone you know need a sharps container? Stop by any of our 13 fire stations to pick one up. For a list of fire station locations, click HERE.

Unused/Expired Medication Disposal

PLEASE NOTE: It is illegal for a doctor, pharmacy or hospital to take back drugs that have already been prescribed. DO NOT give medications to anyone else. DO NOT flush drugs down the toilet.

The Cape Coral Police Department holds Community Collection events for unused/expired medication the last Saturday of April and October. If you need to dispose of medication outside of these times, two other options are listed below:

Guidance from Florida Department of Environmental Protection for disposal in household waste is as follows:

Keep the medicines in the original container. This will help identify the contents if they are accidentally ingested.
Mark out your name and prescription number for safety.
For pills: add some water or soda to start dissolving them. For liquids: add something inedible like cat litter, dirt or cayenne pepper.

Then:

Close the lid and secure with duct or packing tape.
Place the bottle(s) inside an opaque (non see-through) container like a coffee can or plastic laundry bottle.
Tape that container closed.
Hide the container in the trash, NEVER the recycling bin.
Never put medications in the trash without disguising them—human or animal scavengers may find them and misuse them.

Unused/Expired medication can also be dropped off at the following Lee County Sheriff's Office locations:

1st Precinct, 121 Pondella Road, North Fort Myers
2nd Precinct, 1301 Homestead Road, Lehigh Acres
3rd Precinct, 15650 Pine Ridge Road, Fort Myers
4th Precinct, 8350 Hospital Drive, Suite 114, Bonita Springs
Forensics, 10070 Intercom Dr. Fort Myers