16 May Medic Alert Awareness Month
Millions of people all over the world have serious medical conditions that demand specific care in case of an emergency.
However, if someone is unconscious or unresponsive, it can be difficult to relay that vital information. Getting special care for your medical condition could mean life or death. In an effort to alleviate this problem and help save lives, the MedicAlert Foundation was developed. MedicAlert makes medical bracelets or IDs that assist first responders in knowing how to treat an individual with medical conditions who is unresponsive.
HOW THE MEDICALERT FOUNDATION STARTED
The idea first came about in 1953 when a young 14-year old girl named Linda Collins (of Turlock, California) cut her finger and went to the hospital for help. After a standard procedure at the hospital of a sting test, Linda went into anaphylactic shock. After her close encounter with death, she felt motivated to prevent this from happening to someone else. She and her father, a doctor, developed the first MedicAlert bracelet.
Medic Alert Awareness Month is in August. In an effort to help the MedicAlert Foundation fulfill their mission to help protect and save lives, we are sharing information about the MedicAlert ID bracelets.
WHO SHOULD GET A MEDICALERT ID?
Medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blood disorders, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism, or allergies can necessitate special care. If you have any of these conditions, you would make a great candidate.
In case a patient is unable to speak for himself, a MedicAlert ID provides first responders and physicians with vital information on how to treat a patient both quickly, and effectively. The MedicAlert Foundation reports that approximately 650,000 emergency calls are received in the United States each day. In addition to timely and accurate treatments, a MedicAlert ID can also communicate crucial health and personal information, alert emergency personnel with your medical condition and any allergies, advise responders of any implanted devices, or if you have specific end of life wishes (like DNR orders).
COST OF MEMBERSHIP
Different memberships offer additional benefits and features:
- 24/7 Emergency Response: Trained professionals available around the clock to provide your critical information so you can receive the fastest and best care.
- Emergency Health Records: All your critical information in one place, accessible anywhere, at any time.
- Personal Profile: All your important identification details that make you, you, so we can make sure first responders know exactly who you are.
- Document storage: Upload and store important documents such as insurance information, living wills, x-rays, and any other medical records.
- Printable patient forms: Be prepared for any medical appointment with printable versions of your Emergency Health Record.
- 24/7 Wandering Support: Be a part of a community network including local law enforcement who work with us to quickly locate missing persons and reunite them with a caregiver or a family member.
- Emergency Contact Notification: Outreach to your emergency contact so they know what’s going on and can be by your side as quickly as possible.
- Physician Notification: Contact your care team to close the loop on your MedicAlert moment and ensure they have the most up-to-date information to keep on caring for you.
- Advance Directive/DNR: Store your care directives and end of life wishes to ensure first responders know your plans. You can also select your style of ID: a bracelet, a necklace, a push button, or even an accessory. MedicAlert IDs are for people of any age.
At Aegis, our patients always come first which is why we support the MedicAlert Foundation. If you, or someone you know, has a medical condition, give yourself some peace of mind with a MedicAlert ID. You could end up saving your own life.