I know two persons with diabetes who have tattoos, but I decided against it. Rather than a bold medical alert or the words “DIABETES” in a visible place, I thought of having maybe a shoulder tattoo of a syringe and my diagnosis date with a dash and a blank section - the date to be filled in when there is a cure. Lots of reasons why I considered doing this and more reasons for deciding not to, but I’m off topic.
Yes, I wear a Medic Alert dogtag necklace all the time. Honestly, it is mostly so I have a place to clip my pump when I am dressing or showering.
I carry diabetes ID in my wallet and in my test kit. I think having an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor hooked to me is a pretty good indication that I have diabetes. Paramedics ought to recognize them.
thanks for continuing to share your information on this. I am in awe of the variety of options, thoughts on the subject, reasons for wearing/not wearing…
Alisha
I’ve heard several references to incidents with emergency treatement that have left me wondering how you all feel about it.
So I started another discussion board for us to talk about this topic…
Confidence in emergency medical treatment??
Hope you’ll check it out and share your 2 cents with everyone!
alisha
I got my new MedicAlert sports band today, so I thought I’d post a photo of it - my cat Wagger decided to do a funny (and pretty evil!!) face in the background though LOL!!!
How about a topic that discusses if you are confident in your generalized medical treatment? Got a few horror stories for that one too. LOL!!
Yes, I wear a medical ID watch. I just started my own business creating medical ID watches that are very trendy and serve the purpose of telling time in addition to alerting medical staff in an emergency. If you don’t already wear something to Identify your diabetes you really should. It could save your life one day. If you would like any information or pictures on my products send me a message.
Hey Alisha,
I am a diabetic and also an emergency medical technician. Those of us that have been trained and licensed for emergency care look for the medical alerts. I wear mine at all times and I encourage others to do so. I also have other family members that are diabetic too including a 15 yr old neice. She will soon be going off to college and that concerns me. She is type 1 and type 2 diabetic and she is a typical teenager that does not always watch she does. That leads me to another thing that I am working on very deligently. I am a founder of a company called Electronic Medical identification Technology or EMiT. EMiT is an electronic personal health record that can be access 24/7 via our web site with it secure web portal. You can keep your medical information secure and available anytime and from anywhere. Currently I am working with Tu Diabetes to get it advertised for Tu Diabetes members and it will give a portion of all sales back to Diabetes Hands Foundation. You may look at the web site if you wish at www.emitmedical.com
Lana
Thanks to this discussion I just ordered a Vital ID and will have it by next week!!!
Please send me some info. Do you do mens watches??
Am I misreading this? Are you saying your niece has both type 1 and type 2…how can that be?
Would anyone be interested in wearing a watch instead? This is what my new company does. We are creating Medical ID watches fr people who are would prefer a watch over a bracelet or necklace. Send me a comment for more info. Thanks and happy Thanksgiving
No, but next year I am getting a large insulin molecule tattooed across my upper back. That should tip someone off.
Yes she is a type 1 with an insulin pump and she also has type 2. I had a discussion about this awhile back and many people stated it is possible. I was just as confused as you are. Check out the discussion if you wish.
Lana
I wear my medic alert on my left wrist…I always have…for me it was because I am right handed so writing and typing bothered when i had the bracelet on the right, so I switched it to the left and it’s been there ever since
Thanks for the info, Lana. So technically she’s a Type 1 Insulin Resistant…there’s always something to learn about Diabetes, isn’t there?
Hello everyone. Check out my blog for a “thank you” to you!
For those who celebrate… Have a wonderful Thanksgiving…
For those who do not… celebrate Gratitude…
i used too but they would wear out. and then i got one of those rubber ones but i decided it was kind of pointless since everyone wore those since there are bracelets like that for everyone. i never got another one. i figure my insulin pump is a sign and all the stuff i carry around. also everyone i hangout w/ knows i’m diabetic and knows to tell. and i was also told by an EMT that they automatically check blood sugar now adays since there are so many diabetics. so i don’t worry about it.
I have an EMT friend and where he lives it is illegal for them to check blood sugars. The state considers it a lab procedure so they can be in trouble if they do. Also he said he wouldn’t even think of looking for an insulin pump and would have no clue what it was if he did see it.
I agree in our state they are thing of not allowing the lower levels of EMS take blood sugars. Each state has it own set of guidelines that the state medical directors are making those decisions. All paramedics are trained however to check a blood sugar on every patient with an altered mental status. This does not make a lot of sense to me. In which as an EMT in my state I will be bringing certain things to their attention. The service I volunteer with does have paramedics and a few of them say you know more about it than me you test and I will follow your lead.
Most EMTs have not ever seen an insulin pump unless they have a friend or family member with one. I volunteered at Camp Hertko Hollow this summer which is the diabetes camp in Iowa. Many of those kids you could not even tell they were wearing a pump. Especially the teenage girls many of them have learned to place the pump to their bras. Another problem with pumps are that there are other medical devices for pain control, monitors and etc out there that people are wearing and they may not pay attention to it for that reason.
EMS service are only as good as we make them too by showing them pumps, alert bracelets, watches, and etc that we are using for medical alerts. The only one they will see in classes is the normal old standard medic alert type bracelets and necklaces. I was recently hauled in the ambulance myself (11/14/2008) and they got mad at me because my medical alert is worn. I did not have on the normal necklace chain that they have been shown in classes. I hope to become more active with this portion of medical alert types with my own service and the instuctors I know from this area and maybe that state EMS association.
We are the next important step in securing our own safety too!! It is called taking control of Diabetes and not letting it control YOU!
Lana
I do not know many people that would know what an insulin molecule looks like. The thing that catches the EMTs eyes are Stars of Life mostly.
Lana