Re: Re:Bracelets/ Response

[Guest guest]

I have the same concern about a bracelet. When you're interviewing for

jobs, or run into a prospective employer at a different event

unexpectedly, it's a red flag. May as well say 'don't hire me, I'm a

health risk'. I found one necklace that doesn't look like a typical

med-alert, and I may go with that, since I can hide it under my shirt.

[Guest guest]

I get occasional tickles in my throat when I'm getting a coughing spell. I proudly wear my medic alert watch. I don't feel a bit like a sick person. I feel like I'm being proactive and taking care of myself because last year I had a major asthma attack that could have gotten worse quickly. I was able to get to my medication list in my purse but if I'd gone unconscious because I couldn't breathe worth a hoot, my watch would have been there. The emts did notice it and commended me for wearing it.To: asthma Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 4:55:05 PMSubject: Re:Bracelets/ Response

Hi , Y'all

I wanted to know if any of our members ever notice that, they will get cramps in their stomach to warn

Them of a warning about an asthma attack coming on?

Or do they notice a tickle in their throat?

My children want me to wear a bracelet. But I feel ...its an advertisement of my being a sick person.

Virginia

-------Original Message-------

Speaking as a former EMT...we generally arent the ones looking for information if you are unresponsive. In todays age, a good majority of the time a police officer will also respond but again, thats not always the case...it typicallly was where I lived. The police are the ones who would be looking for information and most likely they will look for a wallet as would I if I had to look for identification. I am much more likely to find your medic alert necklace or bracelet in a much faster time frame b/c thats physically ON your person and with a good head to toe assessment I SHOULD find it.

The problem I forsee with attaching stuff to keychains is this: not everyone ALWAYS has their own personal keys on them. If I go someplace with my husbands car- I use his keys...or...if he has my truck, he would have my keys. Suppose something happens to him while hes driving my truck...they see the asthma key tag/etc and start treating him for respiratory problems but his real problem might be hypoglycemia.

From my standpoint...a medic alert tag is nice to know information that supplements a good head to toe assessment. If youre having problems breathing, my assessment is going to bring that out within seconds of starting b/c the first 3 things on an assessment are airway & breathing. Next is circulation. Under circulation we assess a pulse, look for obvious bleeding etc. Then we move on to look for deformities. After that the assessment gets more detailed. A medic alert tag might serve to confirm suspicions aroused through the assessment.

Honestly...Ive never even made a call to medic alert on an ambulance or on scene. I have however seen where a paramedic will call a personal physician on a non-emergent occasion where he could take the time to do it. Life or death though? Its not happening. In all liklihood, the ER is going to be the ones that actually call medic alert.

Ann

<puts on her tech-head hat>I'd advise a plain text file, not a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet (or any other proprietary software), if you're going to carry a usb/flash drive with your medical information on it. No hospital with a decent security policy is going to permit staff to open a file that could possibly contaminate their computers and/or networks, and there are security flaws in Word and Excel, we get new patches for them on a regular basis. There's also the possibility that they don't use Word or Excel, and wouldn't be able to open the file even if they felt it was worth the risk. But pretty much any computer can safely open a .txt file.<takes off her tech-head hat>If you do have complicated medical conditions, or take a lot of medications, or might not be able to communicate in an emergency, a usb/flash drive is an excellent idea, and the best place to put it is on your keychain, I read

that more than 90% of emergency medical techs will check your keychain for one if you're unable to communicate with them.

I was reading this and found it interesting but I don't believe you need to spend a fortune on programs on a usb drive when you can probably do your own on word or in excel then download to to a drive. Personally, I wear a MedicAlert Watch with Asthma. Diabetes, and one major drug allergy engraved on the back of the case. I have the printout of the medication/contact report in my purse and can print more from the website as needed. This way I don't have to worry about remembering all my meds and dosages. If the watch ever breaks, I still have my bracelet. I do have the word ICE beside my daughter's and husband's numbers in my phone in case I need them in an emergency. This is just the way I do things. Do whatever works for you.Today, my lungs are a little twitchy. It's not taking much to send me into coughing fits but my asthma is behaving so that's a good thing.

info - Medical Bracelets Go High-TechStyle Aside, More People Find They Should Wear Themhttp://online.wsj.com/article/the_informed_patient.html

[Guest guest]

Under federal law, you cannot be discriminated against for a health issue unless there's a bona fide reason that the health problem may cause issues on a job. For instance, an asthmatic can't be discriminated against for a job in an office or at Walmart, but you might have a problem in a perfume factory.To: asthma Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 8:49:50 PMSubject: Re: Re:Bracelets/ Response

I have the same concern about a bracelet. When you're interviewing for

jobs, or run into a prospective employer at a different event

unexpectedly, it's a red flag. May as well say 'don't hire me, I'm a

health risk'. I found one necklace that doesn't look like a typical

med-alert, and I may go with that, since I can hide it under my shirt.

[Guest guest]

I get that tickle in my throat when I eat something excessively sweet

like some kinds of candy. Then I get the coughing spell with a

vengeance . Usually I have no problem with fruits.

Ora

On Mon, 6 Sep 2010 19:39:05 -0700 (PDT), Canter

wrote:

>I get occasional tickles in my throat when I'm getting a coughing spell.

>I proudly wear my medic alert watch. I don't feel a bit like a sick person. I

>feel like I'm being proactive and taking care of myself because last year I had

>a major asthma attack that could have gotten worse quickly. I was able to get

to

>my medication list in my purse but if I'd gone unconscious because I couldn't

>breathe worth a hoot, my watch would have been there. The emts did notice it

and

>commended me for wearing it.

>

>

>

>

>

>________________________________

>

>To: asthma

>Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 4:55:05 PM

>Subject: Re:Bracelets/ Response

>

>

>Hi , Y'all

>

>I wanted to know if any of our members ever notice that, they will get cramps

in

>their stomach to warn

>Them of a warning about an asthma attack coming on?

>

>Or do they notice a tickle in their throat?

>

>My children want me to wear a bracelet. But I feel ...its an advertisement of

my

>being a sick person.

>

>

>Virginia

[Guest guest]

That may be the law, but you have to prove that was why you got fired/ passed over for hiring. Many states are right to work, and dont need an excuse to fire you. I fell victim to that in Florida with a job I had...I got sick, had a doctors excuse but they let me go before I ever got a chance to bring it in saying I wasnt reliable. The problem was that Id also had an asthma flare a few weeks before that and missed 2 days there.

When I was job hunting here however, I DID declare my asthma...granted Im technically working for the Dept of Defense as a civillian contractor.. but I do think that is why Ive still got my job. I have missed ALOT of work due to last years asthma problems...but I bring a doctors note every time I miss work and have proof that Ive been treated. Maybe its just the employer, but I think it made a difference.

Oddly enough, I think work may have been one of the major contributing factors....as my hours decreased there, so has the number of flares Ive had. (Just sayin...) Im really sure that is the major part of the problem though...go figure. The one job that might actually be beneficial to have lost I cant seem to get fired..lol. (Im seriously not complaining)

Ann

Re: [asthma

] Re:Bracelets/ Response

I have the same concern about a bracelet. When you're interviewing for

jobs, or run into a prospective employer at a different event

unexpectedly, it's a red flag. May as well say 'don't hire me, I'm a

health risk'. I found one necklace that doesn't look like a typical

med-alert, and I may go with that, since I can hide it under my shirt.

[Guest guest]

Personally as a former HR person (before I developed these wonderful lung issues and needed a bracelet) I did see a bracelet on one of the people I was interviewing. I did ask about the condition, but my only real thought other than possible liability for the company (which wasn't an issue as the chemicals we used would not have affected him) was that it was very responsible of him to be wearing the bracelet. It was not a detriment at all. Just the opposite. I would not hesitate to wear mine to a job interview. I have one that is stainless steel and nearly impossible to remove. It looks like a medic alert bracelet, but is not intrusive at all. I don't want to wear something that looks like a piece of jewelry. With my luck, the responders

would not realize it was there. That would not do any good at all.

I wear mine for more than the asthma. However, my pulmonologist is emphatic that all asthmatics need to wear one. I did a good bit of research before getting one. I extensively looked at all the options including the USB option. I decided against the usb after speaking with several hospitals and ambulance services. Many of the ambulance services do not have on board laptops or other equipment they could use to quickly access the information. Only one out of 15 hospitals that I checked with would even permit the drive to be inserted into their computers to see what kind of files were on the drive. Then they would only open an Adobe or wordpad file. I am sure that as these devices become more popular, the restictions will change or the ER departments will start utilizing a stand alone CPU to check the drives, but the medical system in the US is just not there yet. So, I decided on the bracelet for the

possibility of absolute emergency when I am unconcious or completely unable to communicate. It says "bronchomalacia, asthma, diabetes, steroid dependent, allergic to sulfa drugs". Covers the major stuff. Thank God I have not been there. For all other situations I keep a printed copy of an information sheet I created in Excel. This is a three page document for me. For most it would only be two. Page one lists name, address, blood type, emergency contacts, allergies, medical conditions (including emergency instructions), insurance information, and doctor contact information. Pages two and three are medicine information including form (pill, inhaler, etc.), dosage, when I generally take them, and prescribing doctor. I will be happy to share this if you guys want. It is extremely useful. I can just hand it to paramedics and ER staff. I can point to what I need them to see (for those who can't

open their eyes and read) when I can't talk. I also take a copy to the docs office with me. Any med changes that another doc has made will be listed. It is especially useful for a new doc appointment. I can also email it to family members and friends who may have to be aware of the information.

Madeline

To: asthma Sent: Mon, September 6, 2010 8:49:50 PMSubject: Re: Re:Bracelets/ Response

I have the same concern about a bracelet. When you're interviewing for jobs, or run into a prospective employer at a different event unexpectedly, it's a red flag. May as well say 'don't hire me, I'm a health risk'. I found one necklace that doesn't look like a typical med-alert, and I may go with that, since I can hide it under my shirt.

[Guest guest]

Yes, space can be a serious issue with these bracelets. I have other conditions that I don't have on my bracelet. They could be life threatening, but are not my main issues. The bracelet I chose is used in conjunction with a monitoring service (Medic Alert). They keep my complete history on file. An 800 number is printed on my bracelet that providers can call. I have also had issues with getting docs to pay attention to the instructions. I have found that refusing treatment generally gets their attention pretty quick. I will not accept treatment unless I am on board. Although, if you are unconcious......

Madeline

To: asthma Sent: Tue, September 7, 2010 2:40:00 PMSubject: Re:Bracelets/ Response

Madilyn,My problem is that I'd need about 10 of those medical alert bracelets to list all my serious life-threatening allergies, including IV's, normal inhalers, meds with corn-stuff, etc. I do carry five pages of medical history with all those things listed out, including all the corn components, diagnosed medical issues, anaphylaxis info, and list of my doctors and their contact information.The other issue is that in the ER, the doctor can ignore your medical alerts if he thinks what is going on isn't covered by your alerts. I know a number of folks with anaphylactic reactions (including me) who were not treated correctly in spite of the written instructions, history and a spouse or friend who begged the doctor to read the medical info. Very frustrating.Jo Ann in SoCal

[Guest guest]

No problem Jo Ann. I got over that years ago. Not only the spelling, but pronunciation as well. LOL

Madeline

To: asthma Sent: Tue, September 7, 2010 2:40:57 PMSubject: Re:Bracelets/ Response

Madeline,Sorry!! I spelled your name wrong in my last note.I do apologize. I know how frustrating it can be since my first and last names are most often misspelled.Jo Ann