Have you ever noticed a yellow circle on someone’s car or the door to a home? It’s an alert for first responders that vital medical information is available in the case of an emergency.

It's called the Yellow Dot Program. The details are printed on yellow cards that are kept inside your home or vehicle, and they include your personal information; allergies; whether you are prevented from receiving blood for religious reasons; and any other information you want first responders to know.

Yellow Dot is a free program, and it’s designed to help first responders during what’s known as the "golden hour" after a crash or other emergency. The term implies that morbidity and mortality are affected if care is not given within that first hour.

If you have one for your home, you put the yellow sticker at the main entrance. The information goes in your freezer.

If you want the information in your car, you place the yellow decal on the rear driver’s side window. The card goes into the glove compartment.

“If you are operating a motor vehicle and you're by yourself and you're in, say, like a head-on collision, and like I said previously, if you're unconscious, you can't answer questions," said Sgt. Jeremy Lehning, public information officer for the Erie County Sheriff's Office. "First responders, they need to know right off the bat how to care for you like they're going to be able to address obvious concerns. But things like medications and allergies and anything along those lines is very, very important for them to have.”

The program is through the New York State Sheriff’s Association.

You can get as many cards as you want. It's recommended to have a separate one for each member of your family.

For more information, or to request a Yellow Dot kit, click here or call your local sheriff’s office or police department.