I am fairly new to this diabetes thing and since I have come to the conclusion that after 1 1/2 it is not gonna go away I was wondering what info I should put on my medic alert bracelet???
My bracelet has the following:
DIABETES TYPE 1
INSULIN PUMP
BL TYPE A POS
Plus, of course,my member no. and their 800 number. I hope this helps!
Gerry
thanks Gerry! Can I ask a goofey question…what member # and what is the 800 number to?
When you join Medic Alert, you are assigned an 8-digit member no. The 800 telephone no. is what the medics who find you should call to get details on your medical conditions, etc.
I firgured that was the deal but I am getting a bracelet through my friends business. Is there any way to still register with them?
You can register with them and use your own bracelet. But you’d need to have your member no. and their telephone no. engraved on it so responders would be able to call for your particulars. MedicAlert keeps a list of all your medications, doctor contact nos., emergency contacts (family info), etc.
[Medic Alert is a non-profit organization that provides these services (for a nominal fee, of course!) and sells bracelets. Were you referring to them, or were you using the term in a generic sense to describe any bracelet?]
I like the idea of having the stuff there too. I have a chain w/ my name and T1 diabetes (as if they’d really need my name?) and MrsAcidRock’s phone number which, while she could probably provide some details, may not be the best thing. The last two times I’ve keeled over have both been at family events (reunion, mother’s day…) when I have gotten distracted by other stuff and made huge blunders.
thanks! I am on it now!
Brilliant idea! You are right that your diabetes is not going to go away, and it is vital that whether conscious or not that you communicate to the paramedics/doctors/nurses that you are diabetic as this may have an influence on how they treat you.
On my dog tag - which my sister and I designed when we could not find anything nice enough looking, and she made from silver - I have that I am:
Pork Insulin Dep
Diabetes Type 1
Allergies
(then I have the membership number of the organisation, Next of Kin which is an internationally known organisation which supplies full medical details on demand, immediately, such as conditions, medications, allergies etc 24/7.
On the other side is the international medical symbol.
First of all make sure that you know WHICH TYPE of diabetes you have, and then get one done. My own particular dog tag is the first in the world as my sister and I did it together, so for me it was cheap. I have the old one on my hand bag. The good thing about this company is that it is cheap, is reliable (or is at least as reliable as the information you give it - I make a habit of e:mailing them with my medical updates every time they change my insulin or any other medications), they also have a lost key service included in the price as well as lost passport and mobile phone service. They are brilliant.
Well, I congratulate you for only taking 1 1/2 years to figure out that it’s not gonna go away – I’ve had it 20 years, and still can’t convince myself of that, LOL!
I have multiple medical conditions, so my bracelet is jam-full of information. If I had it to do over again (which I will eventually), I would put Type 1 diabetes instead of just diabetes, but on the other hand, I do have “insulin pump” on there. Which wouldn’t have helped when I went into a coma last year, because my set had fallen out, and I was mentally too out of it to figure out how to put in a new set, so when I got to the emergency room, my pump wasn’t on me. So my sister-in-law, not knowing any better told them I was a Type 2, and it was a disaster. Only an alert CDE got them on the right track.
Also, if you have any drug allergies, be sure to put them on there, because the paramedics may administer drugs (like aspirin, which I’m allergic to) before calling for more information.
Proud of you for taking such an important step forward! 
fist bump!!
Now we all want to hear the three stories!
A few things no one has mentioned -
Med-Alert jewelry is most used by the first responders (medics, EMTs and police). These people are NOT going to call Med-Alert. They are going to go off the information on the bracelet and transport. The hospital will run labs on you and not trust the information given to them by Med-Alert (what if you haven’t updated it - the hospital is liable).
State you are insulin dependent, if you are. Many people (even medics) don’t know the difference between type 1 and 2. Do not assume they will know you are insulin dependent. State it clearly.
If you are not allergic to any medications state NKDA on the tag - this means No Known Drug Allergies and speeds up treatment when you are unconscious.
Get an ID that is apparent it is a med-alert. 98% of responders check the left wrist on unconscious victims, and the percentages go down from there. only about 75% check necklaces. And if your necklace is a simple military style silver dog tag they probably won’t notice it - they assume it’s a military dog tag.
To be sure it has everything on it you want, think about what a medic, who knows nothing about you, needs to know when they come across you unconscious. A person can pass out from hundreds of causes - dehydration to a heart attack. When they read Type 1 Insulin Dependent one of the first things they do is check your BG. In less than a minute after reading your med-alert they can diagnose and begin treating you. In many cases they can treat you at the location and not transport which will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
In my experiences, or at least the ones I was hazily conscious for, they seemed to be able to perceive I had diabetes and immediately get me back w/ IV dextrose? Once I’m back, then the negotiations start!
I use to wear one and I know that I should be wearing one now. I just hate having something that calls out to everyone that I have a medical condition and is a constant reminder myself that I am diabetic. I just “want to be like all the other kids!” : ) I know I know…I can’t be and I need to get another one. Arrgh!
When I had my (hyperglycemic) coma last year, I was NOT wearing a bracelet, and they didn’t have a clue what was wrong. They tested for drugs, depression (suicide attempt) and dementia – the wrong D’s. They DID eventually figure out what was wrong, but a bracelet would have helped.
Even if you only have diabetes on there, without saying insulin dependent, they will test BGs, and if they’re extremely high, they will treat with insulin, so I’m not too worried about that – I don’t have the words insulin dependent on my current bracelet, but next time I get one, I will have to choose between insulin dependent vs. insulin pump. The bracelet is too full of other stuff to get anything else on there.
Which one do you think I should choose?
“takes insulin” would save you some letters.
There are some out there that are so discreet that unless people get up really close and personal to actually read about it, will look just like a funky piece of jewellery or a wrist band. It does not need to be shouting out that you have a medical condition, but think of it this way. If you wear one the right authorities will get to see what is wrong with you and will not start giving you drugs that are inappropriate (say a glucose drip when perhaps you are high as a kite on glucose already!), ketones can smell of alcohol to most people - it takes a finely attuned nose to tell the difference. I was treated for alcohol poisoning in hospital once, when a diabetologist walked into the ward, sniffed and pointed at me and said “That one is diabetic!” Thank God he did coz I was so off the scale at the time that they could not read it and I was half an hour from death!
I use Next of Kin because it is cheap and the medics recognise it all over the world, will put in a quick phone call and know everything they need to, our condition, your type your insulin, your full list of medications for other conditions and also very importantly allergies! I am allergic to several things - so much so that I need to carry an epipen with me at all times. If they were to give me a painkiller that I should not be taking I would be dead in minutes!
When I did first aid training a few weeks ago I asked the paramedic who led the session if they recognised my dogtag and she said yes, it is the first thing they look for simultaneously at the same time as signs of life or death!
Please, please get one.
If it looked too much like jewelry or a wrist band, I would worry that the paramedics would overlook it. Seems to me they’re too busy just trying to keep you alive to get up really close to figure out that it’s medical jewelry.
I may simply be really lucky, but I never hide that I’m diabetic, and I’ve NEVER had any problems with it, and I’ve had it for 20 years. Last Thursday, I had a low at folk-dancing, and one of the members just quietly sat with me until we were both sure I was OK. What a wonderful, caring person! But she wouldn’t have known to do that if she hadn’t known that the reason I suddenly went and sat down and started pawing through my purse was because I might be having a low.
I would have died from my coma last year, if my friends hadn’t known I was diabetic, and come looking for me when I didn’t show up for a picnic.
So I guess I don’t mind shouting it out to the world – if people want to reject me because I have diabetes, they wouldn’t have been good friends anyway.
They are trained to look for it during the initial assessments - they will check both wrists, neck and ankles, even your watch -some people have medical alert watches. I would do the same during my initial assessments of a person who is non comus mentus!