Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 In a message dated 1/9/2002 9:36:07 AM Eastern Standard Time, oh2bamermaid@... writes: > If anyone has an idea about this can they please post to the group? I also > think the medicalert bracelets are hideous. I need ideas for male and > female > versions! Hope no one minds me responding to this. wears a medic alert pendant. Medic Alert does have some other alternatives other than just the plain stainless steel type. But I think the most important thing is what Medic Alert has to offer. They are the most widely recognized organization of this type by EMT, paramedics, etc. What information that is not on the medal is kept on file and as soon as any of these professionals call Medic Alert, they are informed of any other necessary medical information that is needed to treat the patient. Also, discussed before is what to put on the pendant. If there is enough room fine, but usually if an EMT, paramedic, etc. sees Chiari Malformation, they are not going to know what that is or what if anything they need to do about it. It is more important to put such things as caution in hyperextending the neck, cervical fusion, hydro/shunt, seizures, med alergies, etc. Also, because has a lengthy medical history, a nurse helped me to decide what to put on her medal. It is the things that an emergency person would need to know that would help them sustain life if necessary and things that they need to know at that instant to treat her. Last point, while it is definitely helpful to also carry a card in your wallet/purse, the most important place to have it is either around your neck on on your wrist. This was another thing that the Medic Alert nurse told me. One of the first things emergency personel are going to do in an emergency situation is to check your pulse, which would either be the neck or wrist. And you can't always guarantee (depending the situation) on whether they have the time to search for a wallet/purse and then may not be able to even find it. Just food for thought............. Tory ('s mom) 19 yrs. old, craniofacial abnormalities, midline facial cleft, hydrocephalus, partial agenesis of the corpus collasum, growth hormone (weighs 50 lbs.) and thyroid deficient, blind, severly delayed, choanal atresia, optic nerve hypoplasia, artificial tear duct, 12-P chromosome deletion, sensory integration disorder, probable malignant hyperthermia, ACM II w/30mm herniation, basilar impression. History of 43 surgeries. (and musically talented) SUCH A SPECIAL LITTLE GIRL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 If anyone has an idea about this can they please post to the group? I also think the medicalert bracelets are hideous. I need ideas for male and female versions! Thanks. Much love, Traci, ACM1, no surgery, hypothyroidism. mom of Andre (16 yrs.), ACM1, no surgery, cyst on brainstem, scoliosis. and Zoe (9 yrs.), Thalassemia and Familial Mediterranean Fever. Only lots of love and laughter keep us going! To: chiari Subject: Med Alert braclet Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 07:24:49 -0600 I need a nice fashionalble medical alert braclet. The bar kind. I singned up with MedicAlert but those damn things are so ugle it is pitiful. Please help with address or what ever M Burks Arnold Chiari Malformation (ACM) American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP) DX 3/8/00' Chiari Malformation 17-18 mm Syringohydromyelia (Syrnix) C2-T7 Then From T10-End of Spinal Cord Surgery January 16, 2001 Decompression & Laminectomy C1 ACM Albumn Page 9 B Dr. Gail Rouseau CINN(Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch) ********************************************************************** _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Help section: http://www.yahoogroups.com/help/ NOTE: NCC refers to posts with No Chiari Content To Unsubscribe Yourself: chiari-unsubscribeYahoogroups WACMA Home: www.pressenter.com/~wacma WACMA List: www.eGroups.com/group/chiari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 Hi , I have been wearing my Medic Alert bracelet since May of last year. I hated it because it was so ugly, but necessary. I looked into getting a gold one from Medic Alert, but they are so expensive, I wouldn't do it. I took my emblem to a good jewelers and had a very strong 14k figaro chain put on it with thick rings to hold it on. The gold chain was no where near as expensive as the ones on their website and it looks tons better. My emblem is a gold tone one and the chain looks like the one on their website. I don't know, however, if it is as strong as one from Medic Alert would be. I know I feel better about wearing it. I think I am going to tell my husband that a gold emblem would be nice next year. ) Love, Carol Kentucky ACM1 & Syringomyelia - 1988 - Suboccipital Craniectomy Decompression with C1 Laminectomy and 4th Ventricular Subarachnoid Shunt; 1992 - Thoracic Laminectomy w/Syringoperitoneal Shunt; 1992 - Shunt Revision (twice); 1993 - Decompression with Duraplasty and C2 Laminectomy Med Alert braclet Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 07:24:49 -0600 I need a nice fashionalble medical alert braclet. The bar kind. I singned up with MedicAlert but those damn things are so ugle it is pitiful. Please help with address or what ever M Burks Arnold Chiari Malformation (ACM) American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP) DX 3/8/00' Chiari Malformation 17-18 mm Syringohydromyelia (Syrnix) C2-T7 Then From T10-End of Spinal Cord Surgery January 16, 2001 Decompression & Laminectomy C1 ACM Albumn Page 9 B Dr. Gail Rouseau CINN(Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch) ********************************************************************** _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Help section: http://www.yahoogroups.com/help/ NOTE: NCC refers to posts with No Chiari Content To Unsubscribe Yourself: chiari-unsubscribeYahoogroups WACMA Home: www.pressenter.com/~wacma WACMA List: www.eGroups.com/group/chiari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 Just put in 'MedicAlert' and do a word search on the net. You'll get about a 100 sites that sell them. I did it. Most of them are some jewelry stores too. I could not afford the prices, and I do not use credit cards. But, I hope to get one too some day. Not a credit card, a bracelet. I think they are very important. As a former nurse in the ER, I can tell you that in about 10 different cases they saved the lives of some of my patients who could not speak for themselves. That is when they had diabetes and were having those deadly insulin reactions where they are not awake to tell us. We had to get the sugar into these people STAT. I have seen a few die this way too. But, as far as the things that we as chiarians have to say on our bracelets, it is not necessarily saving our life, but helping us prevent unneeded and possible future damage to our necks. If you were in a wreck and on the stretcher and not breathing. Your neck WILL be hyperextended, and sometimes vigorously, in attempts to save your life by getting in a breathing tube. I really don't want that to happen to me or any of you too. Especially too, since I have fusions that I don't want them pulled loose. From one who has worked in this field, I know, get the bracelet. We do look at them immediately. When a patient was unconscious and we didn't know why, first, I took care of the breathing and heart and stuff. Then I went to looking for a bracelet. The Wal-mart thing in the refrigerator was no help to us because it was in the refrigerator at home. It would help the patient later when the family member brought it. But, not in an emergency. So, they are good too, but not as good as the bracelets. in Ala. On Wed, 09 Jan 2002 07:24:49 -0600 " Burks " writes: > > > I need a nice fashionalble medical alert braclet. The bar kind. I > singned > up with MedicAlert but those damn things are so ugle it is pitiful. > Please > help with address or what ever > > > > M Burks > Arnold Chiari Malformation (ACM) > American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP) > DX 3/8/00' > Chiari Malformation 17-18 mm > Syringohydromyelia (Syrnix) C2-T7 Then From T10-End of Spinal Cord > Surgery January 16, 2001 > Decompression & Laminectomy C1 > ACM Albumn Page 9 B > Dr. Gail Rouseau > CINN(Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch) > ********************************************************************** > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: > http://mobile.msn.com > > > Help section: http://www.yahoogroups.com/help/ > > NOTE: NCC refers to posts with No Chiari Content > > To Unsubscribe Yourself: chiari-unsubscribeYahoogroups > > WACMA Home: www.pressenter.com/~wacma > > WACMA List: www.eGroups.com/group/chiari > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 I wanted to second this. I have been lazy and not got my own bracelet, but fully intend to. My husband is a firefighter/EMT... so I asked him pointblank whether they look for the Medic-Alert bracelet/necklace.. and he said YES. I used to teach basic EMS, but didn't get to work much in the field, so I wanted it from " horse's mouth " as it were. I also know that even though a modified jaw-thrust is TAUGHT, in an emergency it might not be used. I don't think any of us want our neck arched, do we? Lillian Santana JEHOVAH-JIREH FARM Seguin, Texas Proud backyard breeder of cockers, chihuahuas, and Great Pyrenees dogs, and Barbados Sheep Lotsafur and lotsaluv ACM 1, 10mm, decompressed 5-2-01 Too good for my own good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 In a message dated 1/9/2002 9:49:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, ploughgirl50@... writes: > My husband is a firefighter/EMT... so I asked him > pointblank whether they look for the Medic-Alert bracelet/necklace.. and he > said YES. I have a latex allergy and had to have them come out to my house because I had a seizure and they walked in with latex gloves, which I can't even be in the same room with or I start weezing.So in some cases they don't.I was awake enough to tell my mom to stop them at the door, so I was very lucky.There is now a thing in the computer at our local 911 that says I have a latex allergy. Summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2002 Report Share Posted January 9, 2002 I have just noticed all the emails on this topic. i will give my two cents. I ordered on and it is two tone. It is also a watch band strech as a opposed to the chain most of you are talking about. I too thought that the " standard " one was ugly,which is one of the reasons i got this one. Total cost for my membership and band was like $35.. I get compliments on it all the time. So just thought i would let you all now that there is an alternative to the standard braclet without paying alot( i too am on a very limited budget) Hope this helps some of you Sheila In PA surgury on Jan 23! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 10, 2002 Report Share Posted January 10, 2002 Medic alert braclets have helped me lots on two occasions when I was having trouble talking well ...both times I was able to hand the braclet to medical emergency attendants rather than trying to explain the term acm /meaning ....something that often brings blank looks and requests to please spell it and explain ...not fun when your having trouble talking !! ...my point ....even in a situation where your awake /perhaps alert they can still save considerable effort and time !! Costs are a big factor for me too ...about three years ago a wacma member posted having found out that medic alert frequently has funds donated to help defray costs of folks on limmited income . We were dirrected to simply call /inquire and explain our need . Being nickle metal allergic ...when I did so and they had evaluated what info seemed important to include ...they offered me the hypoallergenic gold braclet( like a watch band - it stretches ) with large emblem to include more info ...FREE , I was asked to send a copy of my medicare care to show disability SSDI status ..and that was all . Many members joined using these donated funds that year ...I'd ask now ...and don't forget their RN's will be glad to help sort through what wording on the emblem would be most appropriate ..ask for this service as well . I don't sugest other brands because that 24/7 1-800 number with my full records faxed in just a min or two has been so very helpful ...most less expensive alert braclet folks don't offer this ...to me its almost as important as knowing they look for the emblems and follow those emergency sugestions on it ! in Paradise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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