medic alert

[rubyroselee]

Hi all,
Just wondering...do you wear a medic alert tag? I have been considering getting one, but I'm just not sure. I feel that having CF isn't enough reason to wear one for me because I wouldn't suspect any emergency situation to arise because of my CF at this point. However, I got to thinking about it after I had hemoptysis because I was worried about it happening when I was by myself - and what if I was by myself and had a large bleed. I also am a little worried too because of my frequent low blood sugars. I have not been diagnosed with CFRD yet, but I getlows quite often.
So what are your thoughts on having a medic alert tag?
Anyone have one? If so, what does yours say exactly?
What made you decide to get it?
Have there been instances when it was helpful and/or saved your life?
Thanks!

 

[rubyroselee]

Hi all,
Just wondering...do you wear a medic alert tag? I have been considering getting one, but I'm just not sure. I feel that having CF isn't enough reason to wear one for me because I wouldn't suspect any emergency situation to arise because of my CF at this point. However, I got to thinking about it after I had hemoptysis because I was worried about it happening when I was by myself - and what if I was by myself and had a large bleed. I also am a little worried too because of my frequent low blood sugars. I have not been diagnosed with CFRD yet, but I getlows quite often.
So what are your thoughts on having a medic alert tag?
Anyone have one? If so, what does yours say exactly?
What made you decide to get it?
Have there been instances when it was helpful and/or saved your life?
Thanks!

 

[mamerth]

Yes, I have a medical alert tag (bracelet). I wear one because I am allergic to so many drugs.... too many to list on my bracelet. My bracelet says "see my medical card". I have a medical card in my wallet (two places) that lists all the drugs I am allergic to. My son and my husband know where that card is and they are with me ALL the time. I want to get a new bracelet that list the important drugs....

I got it because my mom wears one and she swears it has saved her life a few times. It hasn't saved my life yet but I keep wearing one.

 

[mamerth]

Yes, I have a medical alert tag (bracelet). I wear one because I am allergic to so many drugs.... too many to list on my bracelet. My bracelet says "see my medical card". I have a medical card in my wallet (two places) that lists all the drugs I am allergic to. My son and my husband know where that card is and they are with me ALL the time. I want to get a new bracelet that list the important drugs....

I got it because my mom wears one and she swears it has saved her life a few times. It hasn't saved my life yet but I keep wearing one.

 

[beautifulsoul]

Hey Leah-<br>

I have a medical alert dog tag style. It came with a chain to wear as a necklace but I took the chain off and put the tag on a keyring that's on my keys. I got one because my transplant team strongly suggested ordering one post TX. There are only so many words that will fit on one tag though, so thankfully I only needed one. There are two sides. One side has my full name and the other side lists my medical conditions. Here is what I have listed on mine:<br>

Cystic Fibrosis<br>
diabetes<br>
transplants: double lung-kidney<br>
Cochlear implants<br>
prograf immunosuppressed<br>

<br>I don't think it's pointless to have one that only says Cystic Fibrosis. If you think you should get one then I would. I know people that have them strictly for severe allergic reactions. <br>

 

[beautifulsoul]

Hey Leah-<br>

I have a medical alert dog tag style. It came with a chain to wear as a necklace but I took the chain off and put the tag on a keyring that's on my keys. I got one because my transplant team strongly suggested ordering one post TX. There are only so many words that will fit on one tag though, so thankfully I only needed one. There are two sides. One side has my full name and the other side lists my medical conditions. Here is what I have listed on mine:<br>

Cystic Fibrosis<br>
diabetes<br>
transplants: double lung-kidney<br>
Cochlear implants<br>
prograf immunosuppressed<br>

<br>I don't think it's pointless to have one that only says Cystic Fibrosis. If you think you should get one then I would. I know people that have them strictly for severe allergic reactions. <br>

 

[imported_Momto2]

Hi Leah,

Yes, I have a medic alert. I've had it for ages, even though at first glance you wouldnt think my health would merit it. My reasoning was that when I was younger I rode/trained many horses every day, often alone and far from home. If I got injured, it was a form of ID that I would ALWAYS have on me (I wear a bracelet). Now with my running, cycling, and swimming where I almost never actually have ID on me either, its a nice safeguard.

I simply have my full name, "Cystic Fibrosis" , and the phone number of my CF center. If any ER needs my records, they have access to them that way quicky, and without having to get a hold of anyone.

Its never saved my life, but I did come close to getting drowned in a lake by a panicing horse, and had I not made it, the bracelet would have saved the police some time....... (gotta laugh so you dont cry) : )

 

[imported_Momto2]

Hi Leah,

Yes, I have a medic alert. I've had it for ages, even though at first glance you wouldnt think my health would merit it. My reasoning was that when I was younger I rode/trained many horses every day, often alone and far from home. If I got injured, it was a form of ID that I would ALWAYS have on me (I wear a bracelet). Now with my running, cycling, and swimming where I almost never actually have ID on me either, its a nice safeguard.

I simply have my full name, "Cystic Fibrosis" , and the phone number of my CF center. If any ER needs my records, they have access to them that way quicky, and without having to get a hold of anyone.

Its never saved my life, but I did come close to getting drowned in a lake by a panicing horse, and had I not made it, the bracelet would have saved the police some time....... (gotta laugh so you dont cry) : )

 

[Iamqueenofeverything]

I do. it's a braclet with my name; both of my parents phone number, cf and diabets, and the location of my port. YOu can go to American medical id. the braclet wasn't that expensive.

 

[Iamqueenofeverything]

I do. it's a braclet with my name; both of my parents phone number, cf and diabets, and the location of my port. YOu can go to American medical id. the braclet wasn't that expensive.

 

[Havoc]

As a medic, the most useful reason to have one is in the event you have drug allergies.

I never got the diabetic ones. If a paramedic finds you unresponsive (with no obvious explanation), the first thing we check is your airway/vitals, 2nd is blood sugar, 3rd we give Naloxone if we suspect drug overdose. So, bracelet or not, we are going to check your blood sugar within the first minute of patient contact.

We are going to treat you based on what's most likely to really do harm first. Knowing you have CF might warn me to anticipate more airway problems, but airway is always our #1 concern. In an emergency situation my focus is going to be on you and not calling your CF center. If I need to speak to a doc, we have physicians whose job it is to answer our phone or radio calls immediately and give orders for treatments that require it (like for sedation and intubation).

Most medics will not access ports. It's not in most of our protocols and most services don't carry huber needles. If I can't find a vein, I will gain access intraosseously through your tibia or humerus. It's very fast (we use a small drill) and it works every time. We will use PICC lines, if you have one.

Medical alert bracelets are really good for anything that would kill you if we don't know about it in time. Otherwise, it probably wont make a difference in your pre-hospital care.

 

[Havoc]

As a medic, the most useful reason to have one is in the event you have drug allergies.

I never got the diabetic ones. If a paramedic finds you unresponsive (with no obvious explanation), the first thing we check is your airway/vitals, 2nd is blood sugar, 3rd we give Naloxone if we suspect drug overdose. So, bracelet or not, we are going to check your blood sugar within the first minute of patient contact.

We are going to treat you based on what's most likely to really do harm first. Knowing you have CF might warn me to anticipate more airway problems, but airway is always our #1 concern. In an emergency situation my focus is going to be on you and not calling your CF center. If I need to speak to a doc, we have physicians whose job it is to answer our phone or radio calls immediately and give orders for treatments that require it (like for sedation and intubation).

Most medics will not access ports. It's not in most of our protocols and most services don't carry huber needles. If I can't find a vein, I will gain access intraosseously through your tibia or humerus. It's very fast (we use a small drill) and it works every time. We will use PICC lines, if you have one.

Medical alert bracelets are really good for anything that would kill you if we don't know about it in time. Otherwise, it probably wont make a difference in your pre-hospital care.

 

[kgfrompa]

You are amazing with infromation and helping us understanding The best I always thought of getting a ID now not so much.

 

[kgfrompa]

You are amazing with infromation and helping us understanding The best I always thought of getting a ID now not so much.

 

[rubyroselee]

Thanks for chiming in Jonathan. I figured you would know best whether a medic ID was warranted or not. Now that I know you basically automatically check BS's, it seems overkill, for me,to have the bracelet at this point. Thanks for the info!
Thanks also for all of the other responses. It helped me to know what you all have on your ID in the case that I ever do get one in the future. I will probably want to get one if I ever have CFRD - it would just make me feel better <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[rubyroselee]

Thanks for chiming in Jonathan. I figured you would know best whether a medic ID was warranted or not. Now that I know you basically automatically check BS's, it seems overkill, for me,to have the bracelet at this point. Thanks for the info!
Thanks also for all of the other responses. It helped me to know what you all have on your ID in the case that I ever do get one in the future. I will probably want to get one if I ever have CFRD - it would just make me feel better <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[JenDiS]

I actually got my first medic ID bracelet and the lock is a USB drive so you can plug in the USB drive from the bracelet and fill in al of your medical information surgeries doctors and medicine and more. Im going to get charms and turn it into more of a daily charm bracelet i can wear <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> i got it on the website ltdcommodities.com for 12.95

 

[JenDiS]

I actually got my first medic ID bracelet and the lock is a USB drive so you can plug in the USB drive from the bracelet and fill in al of your medical information surgeries doctors and medicine and more. Im going to get charms and turn it into more of a daily charm bracelet i can wear <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> i got it on the website ltdcommodities.com for 12.95

 

[Havoc]

Jen, do you know what format it outputs as (I'm assuming .pdf)?

I don't mean to be a downer here, but having worked pre-hospital and in the ED I can tell you that it's nice to know a full medical and surgical history along with medications and allergies. However, I'm not sure somebody will know to take the USB drive off your wrist and that it will provide them with it. Even if they did know, I'm not sure anyone would bother to take the time.

I'm assuming these devices are in case you are unresponsive or unable to give that information yourself. In this case there's so many other important things the medical staff are going to be doing to support your health/life than checking every detail of your history. If you are unresponsive, or in severe respiratory distress, we really don't care if you've had a sinus surgery last year.

Emergency care is very formulaic, both pre-hospital and in the ED. I know many of us have had less-than-satisfactory experiences in the ED due to the the physicians there not being used to CF. In those cases, we are responsive and it's typically not a true emergency, we are just being admitted though the ED. When it comes down to a true life-or-death situation, they are very used to that and very good at dealing with it.

Case in point. I had a low priority call for an ill person. The patient was in the bathroom power puking, and thought he had the flu. His wife actually called 911, because he didn't want to go to the hospital. In the course of my examination, I found he was having an active heart attack. (probably 80% of my patients having heart attacks do not present with the typical sub-sternal chest pain radiating to the left arm or up the neck). So there you can see that, even when you present with something that's not even close to your actual problem, we usually find out what is really going on.

 

[Havoc]

Jen, do you know what format it outputs as (I'm assuming .pdf)?

I don't mean to be a downer here, but having worked pre-hospital and in the ED I can tell you that it's nice to know a full medical and surgical history along with medications and allergies. However, I'm not sure somebody will know to take the USB drive off your wrist and that it will provide them with it. Even if they did know, I'm not sure anyone would bother to take the time.

I'm assuming these devices are in case you are unresponsive or unable to give that information yourself. In this case there's so many other important things the medical staff are going to be doing to support your health/life than checking every detail of your history. If you are unresponsive, or in severe respiratory distress, we really don't care if you've had a sinus surgery last year.

Emergency care is very formulaic, both pre-hospital and in the ED. I know many of us have had less-than-satisfactory experiences in the ED due to the the physicians there not being used to CF. In those cases, we are responsive and it's typically not a true emergency, we are just being admitted though the ED. When it comes down to a true life-or-death situation, they are very used to that and very good at dealing with it.

Case in point. I had a low priority call for an ill person. The patient was in the bathroom power puking, and thought he had the flu. His wife actually called 911, because he didn't want to go to the hospital. In the course of my examination, I found he was having an active heart attack. (probably 80% of my patients having heart attacks do not present with the typical sub-sternal chest pain radiating to the left arm or up the neck). So there you can see that, even when you present with something that's not even close to your actual problem, we usually find out what is really going on.