‘Game changer’ Julie Roth ID tags now available in Huron County

by | Apr 22, 2024 | Press

By Maddie (Roche) Anderson, Norwalk Ohio News Staff
Originaly posted by the Norwalk Ohio News. Read the full story here.

A local family turned tragedy into passion by creating “a game changer” for first responders and children in emergency situations –– and their product is now available in Huron County.

 

The Julie Roth Memorial Foundation has developed contact identification tags that can be placed on any product used by children or persons under the care of a guardian that first responders and hospitals can use to contact families in case of an emergency. The tags are unique because they turn into wristbands.

 

The namesake for the foundation is Julie Roth, a nurse who grew up in Berlin Heights and was killed, along with her unborn daughter, Edna Rose, in the 51-car pileup on the Ohio Turnpike on Dec. 23, 2022.

 

In the chaos of the accident, first responders couldn’t find identification for her or her two young children, Rory and Ayla. It took nine hours for officials to inform the family that Julie had been killed and which hospital was treating her son and daughter.

 

The day after the accident, Roth’s mother, Cindy Hildebrand and her daughter Lauren Crafton started brainstorming how to make contact information for children in these situations more accessible.

 

“The day this accident happened was pretty traumatic and the next day as I considered the fact that Rory and Ayla were at the hospital for hours and I was 12 miles away and they were unknown because they had no identification is how I came up with this idea because it just required a solution. It seemed like there should be a simple answer to this,” Hildebrand said.

Lauren Crafton places one of the first Roth ID tags on a carseat.

With the help of her family, Hildebrand led the effort to form the non-profit foundation in February 2023, while Crafton became the founder and CEO of the Roth ID Tag LLC company.

 

In its first year of existence, the foundation has already made “unbelievable progress,” Hildebrand said.

 

With the help of the family and the first responders who saved Roth’s children from their wrecked vehicle, they assembled a board, designed a product for which they received patent pending status “in record time,” sourced a manufacturer and started educating the public about their efforts.

 

Finding a manufacturer took about five months because they wanted the tags to be water and UV resistant, include a reflective top layer and be sturdy. RayPress Corp., of Birmingham, Ala. met their expectations and recently started production.

 

When the tags arrived, Hildebrand said her family came over and they used the first ones for Rory and Ayla, as well as her other grandchildren.

Lauren Crafton shows 7 year old Ayla Roth an ID tag created in memory of her mother, Julie Roth.
The first batch of 1,000 tags arrived on April 11. After making a few tweaks to the artwork, with input from the first recipients, they placed a new order for 49,000 tags.
 

Hildebrand said she gave her first presentation about the foundation two months ago and has already received invitations to give more.

 

Next week, Roth ID tags will receive statewide attention when Hildebrand and her team bring them to the 2024 Ohio Child Passenger Safety Conference in Dublin, Ohio. They plan to continue reaching out to first responders and carseat companies.

Photo by Julie Roth Memorial Foundation

In February, the foundation received $15,600 in donations from the Norwalk 100 Women Making a Difference group. Hildebrand said the timing for this “couldn’t have been more of a blessing,” as they were starting production of the tags.

 

Word of mouth and “other people’s excitement when they care about this product” have helped drive their progress, Hildebrand said.

 

First responders have shown “excitement and relief” when learning of the Roth ID tags.

 

“Their response was so emotional because they know how that’s going to change their day. They said so often in accidents the driver gets life-flighted and they’re left with the kids. They have to drop them off at the hospital and say ‘we don’t know who they are,'” Hildebrand said.

Members of the Roth ID Tag team pose for a picture at the New London Fire Department’s pancake breakfast. They are (from left) Lauren Crafton, Ryan Tiura, Cindy Hildebrand, Leah Schindler, Rory Roth, Jennifer Schindler, Tony Roth, Ayla Roth (on his shoulders) and Jill Graves. These are all relatives of the late Julie Roth.

Some who have received tags told Hildebrand they appreciate the security that comes with having the contact information facing inward. No one can look through the vehicle windows and see the child’s information, but first responders can easily access it in an emergency.

 

First responders also told Hildebrand that turning the tag into a wristband is “a game changer” because it comes off of the carseat and goes onto the child.

 

On Sunday, they were invited to set up a table at the New London Fire Department’s pancake breakfast. During the event, they applied Roth ID tags to 26 carseats and one walker.

 

Tags can be purchased through the Roth ID Tag company website, https://rothidtag.com, or on Amazon.

 

Thanks to generous donations in Huron County, the tags are available at no cost at Huron County Public Health, while supplies last. Within two weeks the tags will be in all fire departments throughout the county.

 

The foundation’s role is to raise funds for and bring awareness to the Roth ID tags. Because it is a nonprofit, the foundation can distribute the tags for $5 each. For every $10 donation, two carseats will receive tags.

 

Their next event is the Huron River Joint Fire District’s pancake breakfast on May 19 in Monroeville.

 

Donations can be made online at https://julierothmemorialfoundation.org.

Donate To The Julie Roth Memorial Foundation

The Julie Roth Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax deductible non-profit foundation.

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Our Values:

  • Love of family.
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Our Story

Begins with the tragic lost of a beautiful soul, Julie E Roth.  She was involved in a 47-vehicle accident on the Ohio Turnpike on December 23, 2022. It was a cold day with the worst winter storm of the season. There were many angels and saints involved that day left to sort out the mess on the highway.  Julie,  her 5-year-old son, and her 4-year-old daughter, were found in their car, but there was a very big missing piece to this puzzle…

Who are they and who do we call?