Med Alert bracelet time?

August 3, 2005 4:14 AM

At what point or for what conditions do you need to get a medical alert bracelet?

I've only ever seen them on individuals who have pacemakers or transplants. I'm latex allergic, asthmatic and about to have a bone marrow biopsy to confirm that I have severe chronic neutropenia. (My normal ANC hovers around 400. It was measured at 1088 when I went to the hospital with a raging infection.) One of my doctors has recommended that I carry a 3x5 card in my purse with the up-to-date list of medications I am taking. While that may be helpful at a non-emergency moment, how helpful would that really be to any first response personnel?

posted by onhazier to health & fitness (16 comments total)

Any condition that a doctor should be aware of, including medical alergies, asthma, epilepsy, heart conditions, organ problems etc.
posted by furtive at 4:43 AM on August 3, 2005

I agree with furtive...anything that paramedics should know, to stop them from inadvertently injuring you via treatment, should be on the bracelet. I have worn a leather necklace since I was 14 to indicate my penicillin allergy.
posted by Richat at 5:00 AM on August 3, 2005

Well, you need one, because the latex and asthma are things they need to know in the field.
I've heard you are supposed to put your emergency contact on your cell phone as "ICE" (in case of emergency), which seems like a good idea, and get that on your card in case the batteries die.

Those who have a pacemaker, it's a good idea to put the lower resting limit on your emergency info. The surgeon needs to know that if they take you into surgery. (Pacers mostly have a mercury switch that tells them whether you're awake or asleep, and if you don't move for 20 minutes or so, it'll drop to a level sometimes a hair below what they might expect, and it helps them to know that the thing is still working.)

Anything important in a hospital setting, such as a latex allergy, I'd write on your inner arm with a felt tip pen in big letters before you go to surgery. When they start an IV, they're bound to find it.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:19 AM on August 3, 2005

Random Acts of Reality - the ever-readable ambulanceman's blog -
has this to say on the topic.

Blog homepage here: http://randomreality.blogware.com/
posted by handee at 5:23 AM on August 3, 2005

It's my understanding that you should have one for anything that medical professionals would need to know if they found you unconscious and needed to treat you. For example, my mom has one indicating that she has diabetes.
posted by geeky at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2005

The 3x5 card with meds is good for anyone taking medications who can't rattle off the names with doses of each medication they are taking from memory. Every doctory will want to know this information.

About the bracelet, what the others said above.
posted by cahlers at 6:14 AM on August 3, 2005

*doctor*, not doctory
posted by cahlers at 6:14 AM on August 3, 2005

Think about it this way: if there's anything vital that needs to be communicated to a medical professional when you are unable to communicate, you should get the bracelet. I take coumadin. Have worn the bracelet every day for the past decade.
posted by plinth at 6:23 AM on August 3, 2005

I had a bracelet for medications that I was taking on a daily basis that would affect any treatment I received by paramedics or the ER (in case I was not able to communicate with them).

I found some pretty cool ones at Lauren's Hope. Made it not feel so clinical.
posted by jeanmari at 6:42 AM on August 3, 2005

My husband has one for malignant hypothermia-a potentially fatal allergy to common anesthesia.
posted by slimslowslider at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2005

Thanks for the insight and info. I've been a bit in the dark about this until now. I'm honestly surprised that the suggestion for the bracelet has not come up yet from my doctors. I thought I was jumping the gun and wasn't sure if I really need it. Guess I do.

I've been athmatic and latex allergic for years. The neutorpenia has only just been diagnosed over the past several months as a result of asking my doc "Why do I have to see you every few weeks?" The 3x5 card suggestion is a result of my immunologist recognizing that I'm frequently on a stack of meds to fight the infection du jour.

Thanks for the marker suggestion too.
posted by onhazier at 7:39 AM on August 3, 2005

It seems to me that the bracelets are not recommended as often as they were years ago. I guess the medialert people need better marketing materials or an organization needs to take it up as a PSA cause.

I have known doctors who say that while they can get parents to put them on their kids, they can't get adults to wear them, either because they don't think they look professional or that they don't want to be labelled/asked questions/subject to discrimination.
posted by desuetude at 8:22 AM on August 3, 2005

I have two official looking plastic cards that I carry in my wallet that detail the implants I have in my eyes (verisyse lenses). Obviously my eyes are not life-threatening, so I find it surprising that your doctors haven't been more agressive with making sure you're protected.

A little of topic, I've noticed that very few medical professionals use latex any longer.
posted by miss tea at 10:04 AM on August 3, 2005

Latex is used quite heavily in my area. My dentist's office is the only one I've visited in the last year and a half which is fully latex free. Everytime I visit an office I make sure the allergy is noted on my chart and I remind all the staff I have contact with before they reach for a glove. About 50% of the time, they have to go looking for the nitrile gloves. I do wonder about cross contamination when I see a nitrile box and a latex box of gloves right on top of each other.
posted by onhazier at 11:49 AM on August 3, 2005

Huh, that's interesting. The last many times I've been to doctors it's been exclusively nitrile--even my tattoo artist uses them now. I assumed it was a nationwide trend.
posted by miss tea at 1:36 PM on August 3, 2005

The 3x5 card with meds is useful in every medical situation. In a long clinic day, having to deal with this guy really sucks:

"What meds do you take?"

"Oh... um.. there is a blue one. That's a water pill. And a green one, that is for blood pressure. And a pink one - for depression. Or maybe that's for the seizures. No, wait, the OTHER pink one is for the seizures.."

"What's the dose?"

"50 milligrams... ?"

"Of which pill?"

"Um.. the pink one."

"Which pink one?"

"Oh, no, the pink one is for my diabetes, I think. And the water pill, that one has the long name. I can never remember it."

OK, by now, I am your doctor and depending on how my day is going, my reaction is somewhere along the spectrum from "What a colorful old geezer!" to "I HATE YOU WITH A PASSION. I want you out of my office, to return IF and ONLY IF you can persuade me that you actually give two shits about your own personal health." I may not tell you so, but that's what I'm thinking.

Contrast this:

"What meds are you on?"

"Here, this 3x5 card has everything I take on it, with the names, milligram doses, and time(s) of day."

The medic alert bracelet is good for folks who can lose consciousness or the ability to communicate from various conditions, including but not limited to cardiac arrythmias, epilepsy, asthma, and severe diabetes.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:25 PM on August 3, 2005