GORHAM – A pilot program in Maine aimed at saving lives at car accidents will be launched Saturday, Oct. 13, with several sites, including ones in Gorham and Westbrook available for citizens to sign up.

Gorham Police Department, with added muscle from a senior citizens group, has spearheaded the drive for the Yellow Dot program in Cumberland County. Under the program, a yellow-dot sticker placed on the rear of a car will indicate that vital medical information about a car’s regular driver or passenger is contained in a packet located in the glove compartment.

“The chiefs are all on board with this,” Gorham Police Chief Ronald Shepard said Tuesday.

Shepard said Yellow Dot has been a combined effort between Gorham police and the Gorham/Westbrook Triad, a coalition of senior citizens, police and community providers. Other public safety departments in surrounding communities have joined forces to launch the program that’s free to residents.

In Westbrook, Public Safety Chief Michael Pardue Tuesday praised the program.

“I think it’s an extraordinary program with long-lasting positive effects,” Pardue said.

In case of an accident, the informational packet would aid first responders at the scene to provide critical lifesaving measures to those who perhaps would be unable to speak. South Portland Police chief Edward Googins said the Yellow Dot packet information would be “very helpful. It’s a document, even if people can talk.”

Public safety chiefs from several communities will join state officials in launching the Yellow Dot pilot program officially at a press conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, outside Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

Senior citizens from the Gorham/Westbrook Triad have played leading roles in the program.

“This (Yellow Dot) is for everybody,” David Garthe, who co-chairs Gorham/Westbrook Triad, said in its meeting last week.

Gorham Police Officer Ted Hatch, who has been instrumental in developing the program, said, “It is pointed toward seniors.”

Enrollment from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13, includes sites at Gorham Public Safety Building, 270 Main St., Gorham; and Westbrook Public Safety Building, 570 Main St., Westbrook. Volunteers will staff booths at the sites. The Public Safety Department is holding an open house that day.

Hatch said signup takes only about four minutes. The Yellow Dot kit contains a personal information card and a yellow decal, which will be placed on the driver’s side rear window of cars. Photos will be taken at enrollment sites. Besides important medical information, packets will include emergency contact telephone numbers and choice of hospital. Citizens then will place the vinyl packets in their vehicle glove compartments.

Shepard said Volunteers in Police Service were delivering packets this week to enrollment sites.

Officials are hoping the Yellow Dot program takes off statewide.

The Cumberland County Yellow Dot was modeled after a similar program in Alabama.

“It’s a proven concept,” Pardue said.

The program is the first one in Maine, but Hatch said it is gaining interest in other counties such as Lincoln and York.

“Others want to roll it out in their communities,” Hatch said.

The pilot program has been locally funded. The town of Gorham donated $18,000 to help jumpstart the program. Last week, Gorham/Westbrook Triad received $1,000 from Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce generated in a community fundraiser.

Joyce credited the Triad group as a leader in the Yellow Dot drive.

Besides Gorrham and Westbrook, other enrollment locations on Saturday include the Standish Public Safety Building, 175 Northeast Road.

While signup is free, donations will be accepted at enrollment sites.

For more information or for those wishing to expedite enrollment, a form can be downloaded and filled out in advance by visiting www.yellowdotme.org

Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce Friday presents $1,000 from a fundraising event to Gorham/Westbrook Triad that has been a leader in developing the Yellow Dot safety program. Pictured, from left, are Deputy Joe Schnupp, Deputy Paul Pettengill Chief Deputy Naldo Gagnon, Joyce, Triad co-chairs David Garthe and Doris Ames , Gorham Police Chief Ronald Shepard and Gorham Officer Ted Hatch.