TURLOCK -- Emergency workers, who help victims wearing MedicAlert emblems, can now get emblems of their own at a discount.

The MedicAlert Foundation, based in Turlock , has launched an effort to market its services to members of police and fire departments, ambulance services and other emergency agencies.

MedicAlert emblems, worn as bracelets or pendants, are engraved with information on the wearer's chronic health condition to help emergency workers, for example, avoid medications that cause allergic reactions.

The new effort puts the emblems on the workers themselves, in case they are ever stricken or injured while on or off duty.

"Why not protect the very people who protect us in the event of an emergency?" Ramesh Srinivasan, vice president for marketing, said Thursday at MedicAlert's Colorado Avenue headquarters.

The foundation is offering the service to emergency workers at a $15 discount. They would pay $100 for five years of coverage, which comes to $20 a year. The general public pays $35 for the first year, $20 annually after that.

MedicAlert was founded in 1956 by Turlock physician Marion Collins and his wife, Chrissie, after their daughter Linda had a severe reaction to a tetanus shot.

The organization has about 4 million members worldwide. Emergency workers can read basic medical information on the emblems, then call MedicAlert at any time for a more detailed history, such as diseases, allergies and implanted devices.

The emblems that emergency workers can get for themselves are on pendants shaped like military dog tags to make them stand out from the jewelry available to the general public, Srinivasan said.

MedicAlert is promoting the effort, called Badge of Life, with the American Society for Law Enforcement Training.

"The concept was to create an identifiable tag that every member of the public safety community could wear," Frank Hackett, the society's executive director, said in a press release. "The tag could be located easily when those on the front line become incapacitated and need immediate assistance."

Srinivasan said the emblems are being offered to local, state and federal agencies that deal with emergencies.

"It is our hope that down the line, in the next year, we enter a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security," he said.