Stearns County Sheriff, Police Launch Sticker Program

UNDATED -- An emergency response call to a home can oftentimes be chaotic. A new sticker program in Stearns County has been launched to help cut down on the confusion.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office along with every police department in the county are now offering First Responder Sticker Notifications. The program utilizes stickers that you can place in a prominent location like a front door or window that alert responding police, fire, and emergency medical services that someone in the home has special needs.

The stickers have different colors depending on the type of need including Autism, a brain injury or PTSD, diabetes, dementia or Alzheimer's, or deaf or hard of hearing.

Sheriff Steve Soyka says sometimes the victim isn't able to tell the responders what the issue is that they are having.

For example, people in a diabetic episode sometimes resemble being intoxicated and an officer may think that's the issue. The sticker may be able to notify them that the person is a diabetic and we can focus on that right away.

Soyka says anyone in the county can get the stickers from their local police department or the sheriff's office, they'll also be handing them out Saturday at the First Responder Appreciation Event in Sauk Rapids and at the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre.