Medic Tag...a true lifesaver

[NREMT-Basic]

In the same realm as the old tubes of life that elderly folks or those with multiple health conditions used to keep in their refrigerator or freezer and then put the sign up on your door that says "tube of life in freezer"....Well here is the MedicTag. I have already ordered mine from medictag.com. Basically this is a little USB stick that you plug into the available USB port on your computer. It then walks you through filling out all of you medical information, meds, allergies, surgeries, primary care doc, what hospital you want to go to and all kinds of good things that the EMS responders would like to know. Of course for them to use it they would have to be with a service that has laptops in the rigs, but hopefully that will soon become a standard rather than a luxury. I have already ordered one for myself and for my parent and grandparents. Check it out at medictag.com. Its even got a little lanyard that you can wear around your neck. The big deal will be responders knowing that these things exist and knowing what to do with it when they find it, but the fact that its as USB stick with a red cross and MedicTag printed on it should help us figure it out.

[whit72]

Nice, and for those providers who don't have the use of computers, we should have them print it out and post somewhere we could readily access it.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is rifling through 492 empty and half empty bottles of medications that have been prescribed to everyone from the pt, her husband to their third cousin on her stepfathers side. You gotta love it. In my area they pass medications around like recipes.

[BEorP]

I don't know how much it costs, but to me it seems like the low-tech method is the way to go for this. Using something like the Vial of Life (which is free, http://www.vialoflife.com/) would seem like a better alternative. The other thing that the electronic can't do that paper can is have an actual copy of a valid DNR.

That being said, any way of keeping your medical information in an organized fashion will surely help everyone deliver the best care possible to you.

[Ridryder 911]

Amazing little scam... a lot of people in my town have bought those, unfortunately no hospitals I am aware of allows any outside device to be put in their computer systems. Most hospitals have a "no outside" sources into their systems to prevent viruses, and unwanted programs.

R/r 911

[NREMT-Basic]

Every hospital in my area has a dedicated system for the use of these little devices and has a mechanism in place so that no harm can come to their main system. I say if this little thing saves one life, its not that much of a scam. Besides, this medictag device does not need to be plugged into the USB of a networked computer. A stand alone machine that somebody uses for word processing and the like that isnt connected to anything but itself can access the information on the medictag so long as the computer has an available USB port.

As an aside Rid, I know you hav alot of experience and knowledge in the area of EMS, hospital emergency care, etc. But I have also noticed a trend in your posts whereby you use alot of terms like "all, none, the vast majority, more than half, always, never" without supporting these with any quotable source. How can you say that most hospitals have a no outside device policy. We have three hospitals here in my home town, one of which is a level 1 trauma center and it is already making great use of the medictag. One of our hospital based Rescue squads has purchased a medictag for each one of its responders and since many of them are also firefighters and would seem more likely to become injured than your average emergency first responder, each responder is required to wear the device around their neck at all times while on duty. Unsubstantiated generalizations are ALWAYS bad.

[BEorP]

As an aside Rid, I know you hav alot of experience and knowledge in the area of EMS, hospital emergency care, etc. But I have also noticed a trend in your posts whereby you use alot of terms like "all, none, the vast majority, more than half, always, never" without supporting these with any quotable source. How can you say that most hospitals have a no outside device policy. We have three hospitals here in my home town, one of which is a level 1 trauma center and it is already making great use of the medictag. One of our hospital based Rescue squads has purchased a medictag for each one of its responders and since many of them are also firefighters and would seem more likely to become injured than your average emergency first responder, each responder is required to wear the device around their neck at all times while on duty. Unsubstantiated generalizations are ALWAYS bad.

Well, although I can't provide a source for this, I would say with confidence that all hospitals (and most EMTs) can read medical information from paper and that not all hospitals can access electronic information.

[JPINFV]

I'll just wait for the sub-q RFID chip

[wakkoemt807]

I'll just wait for the sub-q RFID chip

Picked up a psych patient who said he had a computer chip in his head. He was not very cooperative and wouldn't answer any questions...and said the only way we would get any info from him was to plug him into a computer. When the nurse at the ER asked for the patient's info I asked her if she had a USB cable...

[Dustdevil]

I know exactly where I would have plugged that cable in too! :shock:

That'll teach him!

[NREMT-Basic]

oh Dust...you...you..sweet talker you. LOLOL.