Ever hear of the Vial of Life Project? Neither did I until today, but it makes so much sense that I cannot imagine why it never came up before.

South Orange County California Realtor and Prudential California Realty Broker Associate Debbie Ferrari with her mother, Lillian, age 86 in May, 2007.

Seniors who succumb to any number of illnesses, maladies, conditions or injuries sometimes become unconscious before they are discovered. Energency Medical Technicians with fire departments and other organizations in San Clemente and throughout the U.S. are trained to look for the “Vial of Life” in the patient’s refrigerator.

The vial contains info about the Senior’s prescriptions, medical conditions, doctor’s contact info, and the location of other vital documents, such as living wills and orders for do-not-resusitate.Why not help YOUR beloved Senior create a Vial of Life? Just get an old prescription bottle, glue or tape a white strip around it, and label it, VIAL OF LIFE. Large RED lettering is preferred.

Help the Senior gather his vital information, and help him condense and synopsize it, and then put it into the vial. It helps EMT people find the vial if you use tape or a magnet to affix a note on the front of the refrigerator saying VIAL OF LIFE INSIDE.

As a South Orange County Realtor who has an 85-year-old mother, I suggest that you do this service for every senior that you know, especially those at the San Clemente senior center and at the new San Clemente Dorothy Visser Senior Center coming soon.

VIALS OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY, TOO

Furthermore, I suggest that you create a Vial of Life packet for your children, and everyone in your own immediate family. Make a Vial of Life for each person, using these guidelines, and be sure you have a vial for your car’s glovebox, too, for each person.

To get extra help and materials, go to the web site of Vial of Life and request a free information kit just for asking. Some Orange County, CA Fire Departments, universities and South Orange County schools have Vial of Life Information.

Or, just search on Google Search Engine for “Vial of Life.”

The San Clemente Sun Post reported that former San Clemente Mayor Susan Ritschel’s 1,000-mile walk to raise funds to build the new Dorothy Visser Senior Center is off an “running.” As of March 20, the paper reported that Susan already had pledges of about $20,000.

It works this way….Susan has vowed to walk 1,000 miles by the end of the year and has already walked 200. Donors can sponsor her by pledging so much a mile, or, they are even invited by Susan to walk WITH her several times a week as she traces several different routes through San Clemente.

If you would like to pledge some money or would like to walk with Susan, just sign up by calling Cathy Lee at the current Senior Center at 949-498-3322.

The new center will be on a piece of real estate located downtown, just off PCH. See the first post on this subject for location details and info on the project itself.

The current site devoted to this project is HERE and you are welcome to visit and learn full details about this much needed Dorothy Visser San Clemente Senior Center. - Debbie

San Clemente, Calififornia’s former Mayor, Susan Ritschel, joined my husband Bill Koelzer and I for lunch today at Carbonara’s Italian Trattoria Restaurant.

We covered the many ways that I could support the completion of the proposed Dorothy Visser Senior Center in San Clemente, to replace the old senior center. Susan is the Chairperson for the project, as well as being on the Board of the San Deigo Water Authority which includes San Clemente.

We have already made a webpage in my site on the Dorothy Visser Senior Center which has a great deal of helpful info. Later we will imbed more links to the OFFICIAL Senior Center site once it is live.

And Susan Ritschel is improving the Dorothy Visser Senior Center site over the next month to provide more resources for seniors as well as updates on the new Center’s progress. To visit that site, Go Here.

There are many extraordinary services in Orange County that help seniors.

For real estate and housing, it’s
Orange County Community Services.

These links below offer many resources:
Orange County Office on Aging

See South Orange County Services:

Legal Aid Society–free legal advice

Seniors Free Transportation by OCTA

Our goal is to create many pages and links in my site to San Clemente non-profit organizations as a way to give back to our community. I got the idea when last night I, and about 20 others, were honored at “Community Leadership Night” at the Orange County Board of Realtors.”

In addition, the South Orange County Web site, South OC Buzz just named me Volunteer of the Month for March, an honor for which I am most grateful. (My community service is recounted on my website here.)