Medic Alert Bracelet ? for any medical professionals out there

If you are going to get one... just go for the "plain jane"model. 

EMT's Medical personnel, etc are looking for  that BIG RED symbol (if they look at all.)

Medic Alert Bracelets and Necklaces are intended to speak for you when you are unable to.  Thus, it only comes into play when you are UNCONSCIOUS in an EMERGENCY situation.

They are looking for things that would identify LIFE THREATENING conditions such as allergies to morphine, iodine, penicillin, sulfa drugs,  or other conditions like diabetes, having a pacemaker, etc. If you get a pretty one, it will be ignored... because it looks like regular jewelry. 

Personally, I don't have one... and I do have allergies.  I've been a patient at the three major hospitals in my city, they all have my info on file.  With a click of a mouse in the ER, it's all pulled up.   

 

Hi Jean, I would be happy to answer this for you. I am a EMT and although we are trained to look very well, jewelry that looks like a medical emblem or tag will be found the quickest by EMS.  I am pretty diligent about looking on both wrists, neck and ankles for any signs of Med ID. but not all EMS folks are.  It depends on the situation also, if it is a severe situation sometimes we overlook anything that looks like jewelry. Trust me, we WANT to find out as much information as we can about you, anything that may help us save your life is a plus!

Thanks so much for the information! Jean

From one Tennessee gal to another (I'm from LaFollette, although I now live in Douglasville, GA), I prefer the alert necklace because it doesn't conflict with any pretty jewelry I wear.  Although we want to keep our fashion sense intact, I think this is one of those times where we have to concede the point - that being that the accepted standard is the plain alert jewelry.

Lol, Jean.  Thought you would be avoiding controversy with this one, huh?  The other thing to remember -- especially if you travel out of your area at all -- is that the symbol is universally recognized (maybe not understood due to language barriers, but at least recognized -- like a stop sign still is a stop sign in many countries even if you can't read what it says).  Start to change how it looks, fundamentally, changes the meaning. I still say that if you need one the plain jane version is the way to go (if you're truly wearing it to protect your life in an emergency).  Sorry to burst your bubble. Lori

 I don't know about "ignoring" a good looking MAB, but I caution people not to chunk out big $$s for those fancy gold or silver ones that I've seen online going for 100s of $$s  ..   Think about it:   if you're in a car wreck, or passed out in a public place, and unconscious or incapacitated, along comes a mugger, thief, or a not-so-well-intentioned bystander, what is it they are looking to grab?   Expensive jewelry for one thing .   They won't care if it is a MAB or not or whether someone's life may depend on it (in fact, they may be hoping the victim dies so they can't identify them)   They run off with the expensive piece of jewelry and there you are with nothing to speak for you when the paramedics show up ..  I'd say be sure to get a MAB made of the plainest, cheapest-looking metal, if anything