ID tags

[Andi]

I have copied my ID and insurance card. I also printed up a list of medication I take, am a diabetic and laminated it. I put everything in a small plastic jacket and it's in my bike bag. Have a duplicate set I carry when I walk. Also have ICE on all cell phones. Love all ideas I read about. When I leave this site, am going to look at the ID tags.

Thanks.

[Trekhawk]

I have the roadid the dogtag style. Mine has the Aussie flag on the back. This way if I ever need medical aid they wont think Im talking gibberish because of any injury. You might laugh but when I got stuck with a car problem and had to use AAA the lady on the phone informed me that she just could not understand what I was saying. It took ages just to get the address I was at correct. Who would have thought having an Aussie accent would have caused so much trouble.

[Lise]

I have the roadid the dogtag style. Mine has the Aussie flag on the back. This way if I ever need medical aid they wont think Im talking gibberish because of any injury. You might laugh but when I got stuck with a car problem and had to use AAA the lady on the phone informed me that she just could not understand what I was saying. It took ages just to get the address I was at correct. Who would have thought having an Aussie accent would have caused so much trouble.

Trekhawk, I'm kind of chuckling at that! Reminds me of asking for a payphone at a gas station in Tennessee (before the days of cell phones)...the attendant kept saying, "There's one at the Baye-Pie." Finally, I asked her to point to it. She pointed across the road to the BP gas station. I am from Illinois, two states away. Imagine if it were half-way around the world...I'll bet you've gotten good at imitating an American accent in times of need!

[Trekhawk]

Trekhawk, I'm kind of chuckling at that! Reminds me of asking for a payphone at a gas station in Tennessee (before the days of cell phones)...the attendant kept saying, "There's one at the Baye-Pie." Finally, I asked her to point to it. She pointed across the road to the BP gas station. I am from Illinois, two states away. Imagine if it were half-way around the world...I'll bet you've gotten good at imitating an American accent in times of need!

Lise - that is so funny. Im saying Baye-Pie right now to see how I sound with a Tennessee accent.

[Brandi]

I think it is funny too. With all the traveling we do for work ,I read this story to my husband last night he knew exactly what i was saying when i saod the bp part he just cracked up.

[AuntieK]

I just ordered my roadid last week. I actually won a gift cert for it at the Zion Century ride!!

Anyway, I got the wrist id thinking that would be the most obvious place for the EMTs to look if anything ever happened. But after reading here, I'm wishing I had got the ankle one.

I did have them put on it "NKDA" for No Known Drug Allergies so they'll know whether or not I have any. Plus, I included my blood type.

I'll have to let you know if I like it once it finally gets here.

[Nanci]

I was thinking if I had the ankle one, I could use it for everything and not have to switch it- cycling, running, swimming (yeah, right!) hiking...I wish they made a reflective one, though, that would be good.

Nanci

[Melody]

I have copied my ID and insurance card. I also printed up a list of medication I take, am a diabetic and laminated it. I put everything in a small plastic jacket and it's in my bike bag. Have a duplicate set I carry when I walk. Also have ICE on all cell phones.[...]

Andi, take a look at MedicAlert (http://www.medicalert.com/). I use the wrist bracelet that is designed to be loose enough to not be too uncomfortable but snug enough so it can't accidentally come off. It's permanently attached to my left wrist and I sleep, bathe, eat, etc. with it.

On the back of the bracelet, it has my major conditions I have now or that can affect treatment (diabetes, hypertension and stroke). There is also a toll free phone number and your MedicAlert ID number. By calling that phone number and giving the operator (staffed 24 hours a day) your MedicAlert ID the EMT/hospital can get your doctor's info, medication, etc.

MedicAlert will also go about contacting each of your doctors that you list as emergency contacts that you are being transported/hospitalized plus your other emergency contacts.

This service does require yearly renewal, however, it isn't very expensive. They are a non-profit organization so all costs go directly to running the organization. Setup is $35 which covers the cost of an ID bracelet plus setup fees and $20 renewal a year.

For people without health concerns or with a limited list of concerns a regular ID can be used but for people like me who has a very complex medical history MedicAlert can be a life saver. I'm on 12 different medications (and take 22 pills daily) so I can easily get medication conflicts. :/ Also my various conditions many medications are just out.

I don't know how bad your diabetes is or if you have other complications like me, but take a look at them too.

Mel

[DeniseGoldberg]

Andi, take a look at MedicAlert (http://www.medicalert.com/)....

On the back of the bracelet, it has my major conditions I have now or that can affect treatment (diabetes, hypertension and stroke). There is also a toll free phone number and your MedicAlert ID number. By calling that phone number and giving the operator (staffed 24 hours a day) your MedicAlert ID the EMT/hospital can get your doctor's info, medication, etc.

Melody has some really good points here. I'm one of the people without medical conditions (or medication) that require the type of support that MedicAlert supplies, but I do have a lot of information on my RoadID. I use both sides of the id so that I can have health-related information available as well as emergency contact info. So although there is less relevant information than in Melody's case, it's all on me.

It seems - based on the entries in this thread - that many folks are carrying emergency contact info and health insurance info but are leaving out other important information that emergency health care personnel want to have (like your age, the fact that you do or don't have allergies, perhaps your doctor's name & phone number).

In addition, I don't believe that stashing this type of information in a seat bag is a good idea - much better to have it on your person. Why? Well when I had my accident back in 2004, the seat bag stayed attached to the bike, and the bike went to the State Police office. It didn't stay with me. If my id had been in the seat bag, would the EMT's have gone rummaging there to find it? I don't know.

OK, I'll try to get off of my soapbox now. Thanks for listening to something I feel very strongly about (you figured that out, didn't you?).

--- Denise

[Brandi]

Hmmmm? That is a good point. But your age changes so are you suggesting your birth date. And i agree with the not keeping it in a bag on your bike but, it is easy to forget when you just want to go out for a quick ride. I put my husbands cell ,home and my other best friends number on my id. I am not allergic or I would have put that on it too. and the town I live in. The dr name or number is a great idea too. Where were you denise when I was filling out the form?

[DeniseGoldberg]

Hmmmm? But your age changes so are you suggesting your birth date.

I have just my year of birth. So the id says YOB followed by the 4-digit year. And if you want to change your order - call RoadID. They usually give you overnight to change it, but depending on when you placed your order you may already be beyond that point. Next time, maybe.

On the allergies front - I don't have any either. But when I asked about what should go on the ID, the folks at RoadID recommended including that I didn't have any allergies.

In fact, for anyone else who is thinking of ordering an id (whether from RoadID or somewhere else), RoadID does have some suggestions for information that is important to have in the case of an accident or emergency. I can't link directly to that page because it is a pop-up, but if you go to http://www.roadid.com/id.asp then click the Sample Text button you can see a list of info that would be useful.

And although the RoadID web site does not make it obvious, if you call them to order your ID (instead of ordering over the web) you can get information placed on both sides of your id. That's how I was able to put so much info in such a small space.

Oh, and on the forgetting it front? I have my ID sitting in a very obvious spot. I think I've only headed out without it once and I've been wearing it when I ride since the middle of 2004, and as soon as I realized that I went home to get it (luckily I was only a short distance from the house). It can become a habit fairly quickly.

--- Denise