• Are you a carer (you can find out if you are a carer by reading the carer's page www.sandwell.gov.uk)?
• Do you worry about what would happen to the person you look after if anything happened to you?
• Would anyone know that someone is depending on you?

We all hope it never happens, but for many carers the risk of an accident or sudden illness is a real concern.

The Carer's Emergency Card can give a little extra peace of mind by making sure the best arrangements are made to support the person you are caring for, just in case the unexpected happens.

What is the Carer's Emergency Card?

Carers carry a card which tells emergency services they are a carer and someone depends on them. The card just shows your unique ID number and the phone number of our 24-hour contact centre, where carer's details are held with information about the person cared for.

In an emergency the centre will call the people the carer has told us can help. This will usually be friends or family, or the Council's services if no one else is available. The scheme is free.

Who are the cards for?

Any carer can have a card if they regularly provide unpaid help and support for a relative, neighbour or friend who cannot manage on their own. The person being cared for must be a Sandwell resident, but the carer could be living outside Sandwell.

Emergency cards will be most valuable if the person cared for will be vulnerable on their own and they have no one else to support them.

How to apply

Carers can get more information and a registration form by contacting:

• Sandwell Homes Community Alarms and Warden service on 0121 500 5500
• your local Adult Services and Health office
• your Carer's Centre, CARES Sandwell,  on 0121 558 7003
• completing the registration form Registration Form Carers Card

Or you can send an email to community_alarms@sandwellhomes.org.uk.

We will send you a registration form so that you can give us your details. You will be asked to list one or two people who can be contacted in an emergency. If this isn't possible it doesn't stop you having a card, but it may be a good idea to ask for a carer's assessment so that we can draw up an emergency plan with you.

Who runs the Emergency Card Scheme?

The Carer's Emergency Card Scheme is provided in partnership by Sandwell Adult Services and Health, Sandwell Homes Community Alarms and Warden Service and Sandwell Primary Care Trust, working together to support carers.

There is more information about help for carers at www.Sandwell.gov.uk  in the carers section.