Health kits produced at local supply store aim to create safer communities

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — An effort to make the community safer in the event of an emergency: that’s the goal behind a new product from the locally-based plastics supply company, StoreSMART.

Think of a medical alert bracelet, but in packet form: essential information, regardless of internet or power, readily available when moments matter most.

“We really need to address the safety of people in the most simplest form,” Reenie Feingold, President of StoreSMART, said.

The plastics supply company has been operating out of Rochester for the past 51 years. Over that time, the business had adapted many ways. Where the company once sold 35mm slides prior to the launch of PowerPoint, StoreSMART now produces more than 10,000 sizes of plastics for a variety of uses.

“We have Diabetic alert, and then we have Vial of Life, which is for any medical emergency,” Feingold said while presenting a color-coordinated white board with folder attachments and pamphlets.

A newly launched product, originally used by first responders, is StoreSMART’s “Health Alert Line.” Packets include a range of wearable, attachable, and/or magnetic pockets where crucial info can be easily accessed.

“So we started out with our Vial of Life products and recently we grew the line when my friend’s granddaughter, at one-and-a-half-years-old became Type 1 diabetic. How is she going to communicate any problems she has? How’s grandma gonna communicate?” Feingold explained.

One client, Rachel Blum, has a daughter with Type 1 diabetes. She was recently sent a Diabetes Health Alert kit and tasked with providing a product review. A recent work trip with her husband meant their daughter, Molly, would be staying with her grandparents for three nights — a first for everyone in the family.

“Molly’s grandparents wanted to have everything they might need right at their finger tips and that included all important information, doctors notes, phone numbers, and Molly’s allergies, emergency contacts, and more. Thanks to StoreSmart the information was readily accessible on their fridge and the [sic, diabetic] pen fits in there, too. Agent Molly is ready to go!” Blum’s video blog details.

Feingold gave an example of a church which recently utilized these products to help create a safer system for those facing homelessness.

“The nursing students filled out the forms for the homeless people and put it in their backpack. So if the homeless people got sick — even if it didn’t have the form in it — it had the name of the church, and they could bring them to the church and then they could get them the help that they needed,” Feingold said.

“It’s just more accessible. You could get all the details. You could put your doctors name, the hospital you want to go to, the first person you want to call if there’s an emergency.”

The kits average about $21.00. Individual items can be purchased separately, and for organizations or businesses looking to make any bulk orders, there are customizable options, as well.

StoreSMART was also just awarded the 2022 NYS Product Design Award, and received a patent for its magnetic closure pockets.