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South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is piloting a new addition to the Lions Message in a Bottle scheme to drive improved experiences for patients with autism.
The Message in a Bottle scheme is supported by all emergency services and allows people to store essential information about themselves like allergies, medication, emergency contact details, in a recognisable bottle that ambulance crews know to look for.
Working with Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire NHS Integrated Care Board, autistic service users, and the Lions Club of Winslow, SCAS has developed an extra sheet that will highlight to emergency personnel that they are responding to an autistic person.
Emergency situations often cause more stress and anxiety. For autistic people this can make it harder for them to cope with the situation and to share and process information when speaking with emergency services.
“As a neurodivergent person and parent to neurodivergent young adults, I’m acutely aware of how differently we feel and experience things in comparison to neurotypical people. Communicating those differences is hard in a calm everyday setting; trying to do so in one of heightened anxiety or pain can verge on impossible.
“To have an ambulance crew have the ability to access information on how best to communicate with me and learn what reasonable adjustments will make the experience a calmer one for both of us at the point where I need them, could be lifesaving.”
Allison Milligan, an autistic service user who has been involved in developing the new addition to the Message in a Bottle scheme.
Andy Crossley, Message in a Bottle co-ordinator for The Lions Club of Winslow, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with SCAS in the pilot exercise to expand the information held in the bottles. The pilot includes valuable information on how best to communicate and engage with autistic patients which we believe will be incredibly valuable in medical emergencies. We warmly welcome any initiative that further increases the value of the scheme.”
The new sheet will help SCAS personnel, as well as other healthcare professionals or emergency services visitors, understand individual communications preferences and adapt how they support autistic people. It will initially be piloted in Buckinghamshire in 2025.
With the support of local SCAS community first responders, over 1,000 bottles have already been distributed locally.
Find out more about the scheme and the new pilot at scas.nhs.uk/message-in-a-bottle-i-am-autistic
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