What is a medical ID bracelet? What´s it used for?
Who should wear a medical ID bracelet? What information should it have?
Many questions probably pop up in your head once you dive into this subject, and that´s exactly why we´re writing this blog. Today, we´re going back to the basics helping you understand how important a medical ID bracelet can be, and what you should consider when you´re choosing your own.
As the name itself says, a medical ID bracelet is a bracelet that has an engraved or stamped charm with personal medical information. But, why would anyone want to wear their medical conditions on their wrist?
You may wonder why it’s important to wear your medical conditions on a bracelet, and the truth is medical ID jewellery has only one big purpose … to speak for you whenever you can´t speak for yourself.
But why a bracelet? Is the wrist really the best place?
For those who don´t feel comfortable by almost like announcing to the world they have a medical condition, because they´re wearing a “tag” on their wrist, let´s think about this first.
What is really bothering you?
Most of the time is an aesthetic issue, and if you take a look at what medical bracelets look like nowadays, you might be surprised. There are a lot of different styles and colours, and we´ll be taking you through all of them in a few paragraphs ahead. But now, let´s focus on safety matters, which should be the first thing on your priority list.
For example, let´s think about movies or TV shows where one of the first things you “learn” is to check for the person’s pulse. There are a lot of things on these shows that might be unreal, but this one is very accurate. It´s also one of the first things we learn in first aid courses as well. So, looking back to our question, the answer is Yes! The wrist is the best place because inevitably people will check your wrist and that way you´ll guarantee they´ll get that information quicker.
Okay, but what should I engrave on my medical ID bracelet?
There isn´t a checklist you must follow and sometimes that’s exactly what makes it so hard to choose what to engrave. It is a very personal matter and should be well thought out, especially if you have more than one medical condition to consider.
If we needed to answer this question with bullet points this would be our suggestion:
- Name
- Medical conditions (remember the ABCs rule) or Allergies
- Medication
- Emergency contact
The name doesn’t really need much explanation. This would be the way emergency responders identify and address you, as they´re taking care of you. Knowing your first name can be really helpful in communicating with you if you are in or out of consciousness.
Regarding medical conditions or allergies, this is the main purpose of having a Medical ID Bracelet, so this has to be clear to ensure you get the best care in an emergency.
Please write in Upper/ Lowercase letters for improved legibility.
Capitals letters only make harder to read and that´s not what you want to happen if you´re on an emergency.
How a medical ID bracelet is used in an emergency? Can it make a difference?
As was previously mentioned, emergency professionals are trained to look for ID products, which means that once you get yourself caught in a medical emergency, someone will be checking for any information that might help them give you the best care possible.
It influences the path they´ll take.
For some people, this may not make much sense, but if we take time to think about it, the phrase “Medical ID bracelet saved my life” couldn´t be more real. Let´s imagines these situations:
- You´re allergic to penicillin, which is an antibiotic that doctors might prescribe. Being allergic, you can have a severe reaction causing even more problems than you already have. If you have a bracelet with that information, doctors will prescribe a different medication, preventing you from getting worse.
- You have an implant; so you may not be able to have an MRI. Doctors wouldn´t be able to know that unless someone or something (like a Medical ID Bracelet) told them.
- The same happens If you are immunosuppressed. You may need additional medical precautions and doctors would not know that without a medical ID tag.
- You are unconscious and your bracelet could explain that your medical condition may be the reason you have collapsed.
These are all very common scenarios and medical ID bracelets have a very important role in guiding doctors through these emergencies.
All contents come from the website : https://butlerandgrace.co/
