Emergency ID

[Mr. Bloom]

He also said that they never check cell phones for ICE because they could be bombs and you don't really know who is getting called.

WOW! There goes another great idea that is destroyed by a small number of very bad people!

[DeniseGoldberg]

So I asked my brother, who is Chief of Rescue in our home town in Maine what was best, a necklace or a bracelet, or another shoe one.

He said either a necklace or bracelet was good. But that a tattoo on my belly was the best thing.

I've been wearing the necklace style RoadID when I'm riding for a while now. But on my last trip, I caught myself in the middle of the day without my id. It was on my bike (in my wallet), but that's just not good enough. So I picked up a bracelet ID, figuring that while I'm not willing to sleep with an id around my neck, I am willing to wear the bracelet ID full-time - so when I'm traveling I won't forget to wear it.

Funny, but that forgetting thing doesn't seem to happen when I'm home.

Of course I bought it before the new interactive ID was available. Next time...

--- Denise

[roadie gal]

I have the sports band style MedicAlert tag. It's a nylon band with the MedicAlert metal tag attached to it. It's more comfortable to me than wearing the full metal bracelet.

It looks like the RoadId works a lot like the MedicAlert tag- you call a number and get the full info.

I work in an ER and I highly recommend something like that. Also, always carry some ID with your picture and name on it.

[smilingcat]

When I first got my RoadID, I would forget to wear them on occasion. My solution was to wrap the bracelet around the handle bar so that I wouldn't forget. Ready to ride? The ID is on the handle bar so I put it on. After the ride, I put it back on the handle bar above the brake leve so it wouldn't slide off. I tend to misplace things so this is a good way of reminding myself.

And if I were to have multiple bikes, I would probably just go ahead and get multiple bracelets one for each bike. Having been in two major major wrecks, I can't say enough about having an ID with you.

On my first wreck, I was conscious so I could tell EMT who I was... but the information was on my bike. Bike and I were separated and they never bothered to check for information on/in my bike. It took me like two weeks to locate my bike and retrieve it. GRRR!!!

On my second wreck, where I have absolutely no memory, one of the guys I was riding with, LUCKLY remembered my home number... Again, no one bothered to check for information on my bike.

So from both experiences, I would REALLY/HIGHLY recommend that you wear your information rather than just stowing it on your bike!!

smilingcat

[wannaduacentury]

He also said that they never check cell phones for ICE because they could be bombs and you don't really know who is getting called.

I don't really like to wear either necklaces or bracelets, but I guess I'll have to suck it up.

V.

I have the wrist one and b/c my writs and ankles are small, it'll fit either way.

Good point on the cellhones being bomb detonators and not use the ICE#'s. I always consider that w/ terrorist activity in foreign countries. jenn

[Eden]

strikes me that I've heard something about chipping a person's credit info into their wrist/arm area so that a person could just wave their arm over a scanner to pay for things.......

[lph]

strikes me that I've heard something about chipping a person's credit info into their wrist/arm area so that a person could just wave their arm over a scanner to pay for things.......

Yeah, well, that sounds a bit more handy than having a chip in your butt... (sorry, couldn't resist)

[ChickWithBrains]

I'll be the first to line up to be "chipped" once we can ensure that the data is encoded to be universally read and in the same format, and that the RFID won't set off the security alarms at the mall!!!

As for the cell phone: what baloney! I have worked in seven different hospital emergency rooms and we look for ID and cell phone on ALL trauma or unconscious people. And we use ICE. "It's a bomb" rationale is ridiculous and just a scary story. It costs nothing for you to do, YES emergency workers use it and look for it, so why not? Can't hurt, might help.

More and more ERs are getting savvy to the Road IDs, but they still look for traditional ID before they inspect "jewelry" that they may or may not need to take off when they check you out. If you have a trauma team that has never seen it before, you may get it passed over (sounds dumb but it's true, your vital signs are way more important than what your anklet says).

If you can carry traditional ID *on your person,* do it. If not, Road ID is the next best thing! (I like the tattoo idea too!!!)

[DebW]

Yeah, well, that sounds a bit more handy than having a chip in your butt... (sorry, couldn't resist)

I feel like I have that butt chip every time I walk into our office area. The doors have locks activated with prox cards that all employees carry. Sensor box is mounted at butt level, card is in wallet, wallet is in rear pants pocket, backing up to door/sensor opens lock. I once had a friend try to feel me up to figure out how I opened the door. Good thing she was a friend and she was feeling too high.

In terms of carrying ID on the bike, if your wallet fits in your pants pocket, it's very easy to transfer your wallet from your pants pocket to your jersey pocket when you ride. Then you've got all the ID, insurance cards, credit cards, cash, etc with you.

[Tuckervill]

Just a little note about RFID. The medical records are not stored in the chip. Only the identifying information that gives access to the medical records located somewhere else is stored there.

That said, whoever said they would never want to be chipped because of all that scary "show me your papers" stuff....I guess we'll be disappearing off into the woods together! I started getting worried about that kind of stuff when they started being able to track your purchases at the grocery store through your shopper card, and connect it through your debit card to your bank account. (It's indirect but it's there.) When I REALLY got worried was when computers got powerful enough to manage all that data on everyone in the country just from one itty bitty laptop.

Kroger used to know when I last bought tampons. (Think China and forced birth control.) I don't use shoppers cards.

Karen, not usually conspiratorial, but why take chances?