Tattoo

Wow! I am sitting here and I read med464Rescue’s latest blog. What caught my eye was that his tattoo helped him with the EMT’s. I have bought 23 bracelets, 14 necklaces, and even a thumb drive for my son in case something happens to him while he is away. He has lost every one of them.

Here is a question I have. I think the tattoo is awesome (hard for him to lose that). It is wrong for me to get a similar tattoo for my 13 year old son? I know right off the bat it sound absolutely ridiculous, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. It would be tastefull and small as to keep concealed from the general public.

I am not a tattoo freak, but I have a couple of them hidden from normal eyesight. Besides his age, I just can’t see what is wrong with it, if it could save his life someday.

What do you think?

I personally would not tatoo my 13 yr old child. Just not my thing. Have you tried a medic alert bracelet which are VERY difficult to get off by yourself - the clasp is almost impossible to undo by yourself. When he is 18 then he can decide for himself. Just my opinion.

I have a medic alert tattoo on my inside left wrist. I needs to be in a place where EMTs would see it and large enough that over time when the ink spreads a bit, you can still read it. So I don’t think I would tattoo a 13 year old.

Lol, yes, he has lost two of them. He is a very big 13 year old and very smart. He figured out how to turn off the alarms and sounds on his pump when he was 7 all by himself, because he did not like people looking at him when it went off. He is a Yell Leader (cheerleader) at his school, and they are not allowed to wear jewelry because of the stunting. So he takes it off and it disappears. I am not sure if it is on purpose or not.
He is 5’09 and about 160. The growth thing just happened overnight this last summer. It sounds stupid and brilliant at the same time.

When I was that age and in Basketball, I used medical tape to tape the bracelet to my wrist so it wasn’t dangling and couldn’t be caught on anything. Taking the bracelet off, I’d lose it. The medical tape worked wonders and due to my “illness” no one could make me take off the bracelet.

I believe it is illegal for him to get the tattoo, even with parental permission.

They can’t make him take it off. There are some sports ones I’ve seen lately with a cloth/elastic strap vs the metal.

Then again, at 13, he is old enough to be responsible for his stuff. Make him start paying for them out of his allowance or do extra chores for losing it. It’s not like it is a new thing he forgets about.

I did not think that they could make him take it off either, but during several games, the Ref. stopped the game and made a bid deal about it. We fought hard, but lost the battle on the spot. I was told he had to tape it up. I, of course, got mad and told them that if something happened to him during the game the medics would not take the tape off to see if he had a medical bracelet. I was more mad at the whole situation for calling him out in front of everyone and did not want to listen to reason at the time. I did not want him to feel like he was different from his friends. This is such a hard thing to deal with at times; especially when others don’t understand what we have to go through.

I am a paramedic my self and yes my tattoo helps me all the time. I lost bracelet after bracelet and what not and found this to be the best thing for me I know for kids they have temp tattoos for kids to wear during sporting events that are water proof and for any other time you feel he would need it. I know my dad tried everything to keep me wearing my bracelets then when I turned 17 my dad who is a ER doctor decided it was cool for me to get the tattoo and now it is one less thing for him to worry about

Look what I found! Temp tattoo med alerts! 'Cept they call them Tottoos because they are geared toward young kids.

http://shop.tottoos.org/category.sc;jsessionid=3198C4BDC3BA2E8BF1D5C62237FD853A.qscstrfrnt02?categoryId=4

Seems as though they are geared to groups, I guess to I.D. kids when away from the classroom or something.

Found them through a Google search that led me to here:
http://mykidsallergies.blogspot.com/2007/09/temporary-tattoos-as-medic-alert.html

Others:
http://www.tattoosales.com/TattooFullView.aspx?productID=7531&source=froogle (has them in amounts of 1 - 1000)
http://www.fifty50pharmacy.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=tattoos&Store_Code=F5&Category_Code=Specials (sticker packs)

I was actually going to suggest this. I know a type 1 teenager who loves them.

Those temp tats are a great idea!

I don’t like medical chain link bracelets. I’ve got a rubber one that fits snugly & a silcone one. Would those types be acceptable to the coach? At least they’re cheap to replace.

The silcone ones as a medic I don’t really like personally I look at all bracelets and necklaces but many medics look at the silcone ones as just toy bracelets like the livestrong ones and what not I am sure for the short amount of time playing sports games it could be worn. but it is always good to have the coach or someone at the game who knows about the kid if he/she were to go into a diabetic emergency.

Thanks for the heads-up on silicone bracelets. Rubber ok? Mine has held up well.

yes all are acceptable as long as they are noticeable you know like you can see the medical logo or diabetic is big enough to notice. like I said for me I check everywhere for one on my patients better to be safe then sorry. mine well you can’t miss it at all! lol but then again I am so active and out everywhere that having the tattoo makes sure everyone knows.

The rubber one has a very clear “diabetes.” Well, not as clear as yours:) Thanks!