Medic alert bracelet?

I am scheduled to get a pacemaker on Christmas Eve, so am trying to plan things. Do most people with PMs wear a medic alert tag or bracelet? I know medic alert offers memberships that include a device registry and can store your medical history.

So, medic alert, yes or no, and why or why not?

27 Comments

Your decision

by IAN MC - 2013-12-05 04:12:26

I have the same condition as yourself, sick sinus syndrome and bradycardia , and I see no point in having any form of medic alert identification.

I think they are far more popular in the States than they are here in the UK; in fact I now personally know 6 people with PMs here and none of them wear them.

PMs are incredibly reliable, much more than your heart which has let you down. I assume that you don't wear a bracelet now telling the world that your heart may suddenly slow down and yet, you are asking if you should wear one when the problem is solved with a PM.

People with a different point of view will probably post on here and scare you into getting one; but if you look at it logically and do a risk/benefit analysis you will realise that you don't really need one.

now … you will get other points of view …..

Best of luck with your implant

Ian

Don't know

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-05 04:12:39

I'm waiting to hear if they do, don't. One person on this forum was concerned if they passed out and got an MRI while unconscious. But in the ER's in the US they do body checks for scars, etc. So that's not as big of a concern. They would see the pacemaker scar.

My spouse and I will be getting med alert jewelry for Xmas this year. I'm opting for the one with a memory chip. Won't have super critical info on the chip, just info to help a medical team streamline their search for critical information.

I was unconscious with a heart rate of 20 when the found me on the trail. (I don't remember any of what happened but the people there told me this information later.) When the EMT's got there they asked me what happened. I said, "Heart!" They asked if I had a heart attack. I told them, "No, can't breathe." So they were alerted I had heart issues but if I had been totally out it may have taken them more time to start medical treatment. As it was, my heart stopped in the ambulance. They did CPR, broke a rib, and collapsed a lung.

When I got to the ER, they had a really hard time restarting my heart. I was totally unable to communicate with them, in fact I was out for the next six days. So the medical team had to go on what they could figure out. Somehow they found my medical records, got in contact with my Cardiologist, restarted my heart, put me in an induced coma, put in a chest tube, and installed a temporary pacemaker. How I survived I don't know.

So I'm in favor of the med alert jewelery. Next time I might not be so lucky - or have divine intervention, which ever you choose. There were a lot of if's for me. If other people hadn't found me right away. If the jogger hadn't had a cell phone when they couldn't operate mine. If the EMT's had taken longer to get to the scene. If the ER doctor had decided I wasn't worth the effort. All of those if's - if one was changed I wouldn't be here. The med alert jewelry would have shortened some of the time and helped get me medical treatment much more quickly.

Hope this helps.

Theknotguy

I wear mine

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-05 05:12:28

Christmas eve, you party animal, you! Good luck with your surgery.

I also got the online service that holds my whole medical history. I only have bare minimum on my bracelets, and the online registry is always up to date. Then I went somewhere else and bought a rainbow of pretty beaded bracelets that match everything in my closet that all fit on the same id tag.

I did not wear one for years, then we had a member here who was a paramedic who scared me into it. She said they can't always get to our wallet. They don't always see the scar, they won't even be looking for it at that point, esp if you are stuck in a car after an accident. If they see the bracelet it will affect how they cut us out of an accident and also how they transport us. As heart patients they always transport us hot with lights on. It also can affect where we are transported to because not all hospitals can monitor a pm. Not a big deal, unless we need surgery. How awful would it be to need emergency surgery but have to be transported to a bigger facility that can monitor the pm? Odds of that happening are small, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

I disagree with Ian on checking for scars. A friend of mine (another member here) was dazed after a car accident and halfway to an mri before she snapped out of it and said something. Having an obvious scar didn't help her. No one would see my scars and recognize it as a pm, it's not in the usual place and the pm is buried so no lump. So, in my case they'd have to have me on a heart monitor to catch it. Last time I was in the ER, I told them and it was on my chart and they had me on a monitor... and I still had a very wide eyed x-ray tech poke his head around the corner after doing a chest x-ray to ask if I had a pm. Um, yeah, read the chart next time. Things slip through the cracks, esp in as busy ER.

Imo, better safe than sorry. The odds of needing it are small and I hope I never need it. Either way, I've got my bases covered. It's a small thing to wear it.

Am I missing something ?

by IAN MC - 2013-12-05 05:12:51

I've just read the previous post twice and I still can't see any reason why someone with a PM for bradycardia should wear a bracelet ????

Ian

I have had a Medic Alert bracelet

by janetinak - 2013-12-05 06:12:01

for several yrs & wear it all the time. Small price to pay for the safety that I feel with it on.

I got a gold plated one for not too much money & I have received a lot of compliments on it, so it is seen. You can go on their web site & see a variety of options both in style, color, etc.

Also hit the Search button top of this page & do a search. You'll find that there has been a lot of discussion on here & folks have found other sites that they like better for the jewelry. I am not sure that all have the 800 #that can be called to get the info to EMS/ER when needed. As mentioned, there are several ways to get it on a computer chip or stick, etc.

where to shop

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-05 06:12:14

My favorite tags come from here
http://www.n-styleid.com/charms-and-id-tags/medical-id-tags.html
They fit the beaded bracelets from laurenshope.com so I have some from each site. I have a tag from LH but don't care for it, it is very lightweight and doesn't stay flat on me, but her beads are stunning.

I have one of these for the beach and running, camping, anywhere sweaty/wet that I don't want to ruin a pretty one
http://www.gosportid.com/

medic alert

by Marie12 - 2013-12-05 07:12:14

I wear one. Not taking any chances. I did splurge and purchased a white gold bracelet. I have not taken it off since mid August.

I don't bother

by SaraTB - 2013-12-05 07:12:16

I was given one, never got on with it (I don't wear jewellery routinely anyway) - drove me nuts, plus it's a constant reminder of something I'm generally able to forget about for days on end.

The only reason to wear one, for me, as I have no other health issues and am on no medication, would be in case someone gave me an MRI. Oh well.

What is the down side

by rfassett - 2013-12-05 08:12:21

other than the cost, which can be very minimal? I plan on wearing mine for the duration.

No med alert for me

by Jax - 2013-12-05 10:12:00

I have one-- I wore it once and never again. I don't even know where it is. I don't feel I need it.

I have one and have for years

by kathykat11 - 2013-12-05 10:12:23

I got one when I got my first artificial valve. and got on the coumadin for life train I got it updated when I got my pacemaker. I wish I would have had it back in 1983 when I had my strokes it would have saved a lot of embarrassment when I couldn't talk and the Naval hospital assumed the man who came with me and knew my info was my husband and ordered him to help remove my remove my clothing. He was my best friends husband and they wouldn't listen to him when he tried to say he wasn't related to me. I know a medic alert would have given my info and my husbands name which did not match the person who was ordered to help undress me. I could not speak for 3 days and when everything was straightened out there were apologies all around. Nedic alert can speak for you when you can't speak for yourself. I have mine hooked to my shirt right now because my neck is having issues I would not be without it.

I wear one 24/7, but it has...

by donr - 2013-12-05 11:12:25

...done me no good when I was semi conscious following an auto accident.

I had a scar that was only 10 weeks old, or thereabouts. Still nice & pink & puffy & the PM bulged out like a 10 lb rock in a 5 lb bag.

My dog tag was hanging on my left shoulder, right behind my neck. I was bare from the waist up so my scar should have been very obvious. At that point, I was over a half hour in the ER, still strapped to a back board & had a CT of my spine or whatever. NO MRI, fortunately. I'm not sure if I'd been connected to a heart monitor yet. MY wallet was still in my back pocket & I was lying on it - uncomfortable to say the least.

The ER tech finally saw the chain & says "What's this?" & started fishing it out from behind my neck. At that point, I came out of my morphine induced stupor & blurted out: "I've got a PM & am on Coumadin!" The change in the ER atmosphere was immediate & dramatic.

I still wear it. Who knows when it may serve its intended purpose. It's a minor nuisance at worst.

I feel much better having it & not needing it as opposed to needing it & not having it.

Don

This topic

by IAN MC - 2013-12-06 04:12:05

certainly brings out people's insecurities !

" I feel better having it ", " Small price to pay for safety "
" Not taking any chances " etc etc and yet, the chances of being in that very unique set of circumstances which could conceivably lead to an ID bracelet being of any value are infinitesimally small.

But if people have insecurities there will always
be marketing outfits who feed on those insecurities and exploit us to get hold of our hard-earned cash

If our only problem is having a PM for bradycardia, I'm certain that we are all far more likely to be struck by lightning than to reap any benefits from a medi alert bracelet ; so it all comes down to how risk-averse we are .

I sometimes go outside without wearing crash helmet !! What are the chances of that branch falling on me ? Oh no, I've got myself worried now !

Ian

I have a bracelet

by MelodyMarch - 2013-12-06 12:12:30

I got mine from Lauren's Hope. I am a music teacher who is in multiple rooms/schools everyday so I am not always right next to my wallet, if there is an emergency where I am away from my wallet I want the peace of mind.

I also have a copy of my card stored in my phone, which is ALWAYS with me unless I'm in the pool, shower or in surgery. Again if I am separated from my wallet I have it then no matter the situation.

My neighbor is a Paramedic/Fire Chief for a local village, and also recommended I get one. They do look, and it makes a difference in transport and treatment.

Safety Equipment

by donr - 2013-12-07 01:12:38

Ian has had his say - now it's my turn.

I am sitting here writing this note because of three pieces of safety equipment that I choose to use:

1) Seat belts (Lap straps to some) have saved me in three auto accidents. None were of my doing or my wife, who was driving during some of them.

2) Air bags - a side bag inflated when we were T-Boned by a teen texting on a cell phone. He was going 35 MPH.

3) A skateboard helmet that I always wear while riding in the car or working around a construction site. Long story as to why. Grand son dropped a hammer some 8 feet onto my head which was encased in the helmet. In the auto accident where the other driver was texting, my head went through a door window & I suffered no injury.

Call it an insecurity if you want, I'm not sure what riders wearing full leather & WW-II German steel helmets on Harley Hawgs call it (probably obscene), but they sure look in the window at me while sitting at traffic lights & laugh their &^%$ off. I smile back at them because I still can.

Any military pilot worth his/her salt wears one, knowing full well that it will do them no good at anything above a high taxi speed; Any Biker w/ any sense will wear one, knowing the same thing.

It took till the early 60's for seat belts to be the vogue. We put them in our second car in Dec of 1960, well before they were required. Our third car in 1965 still did not come w/ them, so I installed them myself & they saved us both in an accident about 6 months later. I recall back in those days that Europeans sneered at us because belts were not required here. After the US finally required the lap strap, we were sneered at by Europeans because we did not require the cross chest strap. (Too bad Frank is not here - he started installing seat belts the same time I did & for the same reason).

On the subject of belts - all race car drivers wear them & many survive wrecks where the vehicle literally disintegrates around them. I can see the next requirement to be full 5 point suspension belts in front seats of cars..

As an old line reader of aircraft accident reports, it is so discouraging to read the last line that often says "This accident was survivable, but the pilot (whatever) was not properly strapped in.") Those type accidents usually involved speeds not much higher than we drive on our Interstates, Motorways or Autobahns.

My last laugh is that my Wife still has a husband; I will be at the graduations of our grandchildren from college & our 3 YO granddaughter can laugh at "Funny Grandpa" who calls her "Little Cindy Lou Who." (From the Grinch Book by Dr. Seuss)

If anyone satisfies an insecurity that they believe will ensure their survival in an emergency, that's their business, not mine or anyone elses'!

Don

Kamikaze Pilots & helmets

by donr - 2013-12-07 01:12:48

They wore them for the same reason every other military pilot at that time wore a helmet - to hold the earphones for their radios. They had no padding except that necessary for holding the earphones comfortably on the head.

American Tankers started wearing padded leather helmets during WW-II, just like American football players, courtesy of General Patton, who was looking for something more practical for his tankers during the "Louisiana Maneuvers" of about 1940.

The hard protective helmet did not come into being till the advent of jet aircraft in the late 1940's & early 50's. Dunno how it went in England at the end of WW-II & the intro of the first operational jet fighters, but our test pilots for the P-59, our first turbo jet powered fighter, utilizing the Brit designed centrifugal flow jet engines, all wore typical leather helmets. It was not till the Korean War that our pilots wore hard helmets - & then only in jets. Eventually, their use migrated to use in all tactical aircraft & strategic aircraft. The cargo aircraft bus drivers still wear soft caps & go bare-headed w/ earphones hanging from metal structures over the head.

Currently our hard helmets provide ballistic protection as well as a significant amount of exterior sound suppression & an anchor point for O2 apparatus & a eye shield to protect eyes against glare & wind in the event of an ejection.

Next trivia question - why do horseback riders wear those insane looking jodphurs w/ the ballooning thigh sections?

Don

Off topic

by IAN MC - 2013-12-07 05:12:25

but I've often wondered, Don, why did Japanese kamikaze
pilots wear helmets ??

Cheers

Ian

Depends

by Pacemum - 2013-12-07 05:12:48

My daughter does not have medic alert but has another form of ID jewellery. She does not wear it all the time but does wear it when she goes away to a different county/area or country. We live in UK and basically she is known by local hospital and just inputting her name on NHS computer will bring up an alert. She also has scars from other heart surgery which no one can miss.

Individual circumstances will determine if you feel secure without one. Someone living in a large US city with lots of hospitals will feel different to someone living in a smaller UK city with just one hospital.

Uh, Mum...

by donr - 2013-12-07 09:12:26

...We have literally thousands of small towns /cities in the US with only one hosp. MOF, we have literally thousands of smaller towns without any hospital at all.

To find out how many hospitals we have, I just found this URL.
http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-studies/fast-facts.shtml

There are 5700 total hospitals here Well over 4900 of them are small community hospitals. (I was surprised at the numbers.)

Once upon a time, we were driving along a major Interstate highway and I just did not feel well. I opened up my Garmin GPS & asked it how far to the closest hospital. ZOWIE! There came up a list of hospitals that filled the screen! There was one about every twenty miles or so in what I thought were small towns. Unfortunately, none of them would have any capability to do anything to or for a PM/ICD.

Quite often each county (Like your ...shires) will have a hospital, perhaps even staffed by an MD. If not, at least they will have the capability of calling for emergency helicopter evac to the closest large hospital.

Our #2 Daughter is an ER Doc at a small city that does have a hosp. BUT - there is not a single cardiologist in town. If she has a heart attack patient or perhaps a major trauma case report in, She calls for a helicopter evac to the closest major hosp, 55 miles away. This requires that the ER Docs have special skills at stabilizing serious patients for the trip, which takes about 30 minutes. Does it work? She has NEVER lost a heart attack or trauma patient in the 5 years she has been there.

When it comes to the situation you described, we have a lot more in common than you think. If you look at a nighttime satellite photo of the US, you will see how much empty space there is in the center of the country - away fro the two coasts & the Mississippi & Missouri Rivers.

Don

Ian

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-07 09:12:57

You choose not to wear a medic alert, we heard you the first time. It's your choice, go for it, you won't see anyone telling you it's a stupid choice. So how about you show the same respect? Quit with the mocking and snark. It doesn't affect you in the least if we choose to wear one. Play nice.

It's a choice

by Marie12 - 2013-12-07 09:12:59

I agree with donr. I started wearing the sealt belt of my car long before it became the law after picking my hair out of my windshield after an accident. I was 20 at the time but was still smart enough to realize the right thing to do.

The choice to wear or not a medic alert is personal. You do or you don't. No one should be made to feel wrong for wearing one.

MARMITE....................

by Tattoo Man - 2013-12-07 10:12:36


........................now for those not familiar with this yeast based spreadable foodstuff, made by Unilever, it could be seen that this comment is even more 'off topic' than IAN MCs ..'Kamikaze Kwestion'.

Here in the UK ,Marmite polarizes public opinion to an exact 50 / 50 split. There are those who see that Marmite is the equivalent of Ambrosia that Greek Gods lived on........

And there are those who will countenance no other view, other than it was made by Satan himself in order to poison mankind...

So....ID 'jewelry'.......for many these are items that will be of value to Paramedics when emergency attention may be needed........fair enough.

For others..and this seems to include IAN MC, SaraTB and JAX...the contrary view is taken..and I fall in their camp.

My Dog Tag now languishes somewhere and I have not worn it for a very long time. This time has, coincidentally, been the period that I have had the least concern about my PM Chum, as I no longer have the constant reminder of its existence dangling round my neck,..jingling everytime I move.

So, SilverMegan, that's my take on the subject...in the end you will do what you have already decided..just keep an open mind on whether you need to wear an ID for ever.

Tattoo Man

PS...no matter how hard I am pressed, I shall not divulge my position re Marmite !!!


Thank you

by SilverMegan - 2013-12-07 11:12:32

Thank you, all, for your input and sharing. I like wearing jewelry, and have ordered a bracelet. My nursing friends vowed to harm me if I didn't, lol.

Now I am off to Mexico to enjoy some warmth!

Megan

MEDIC ALERT BRACELET

by Vinnie - 2013-12-08 08:12:58

Many people with PM take blood thinners--- there are many blood thinners on the market-- wouldn't it be nice if you arrived at the ambulance/hospital bleeding and out cold and the medical staff knew whether to give you vitamin K or use some other procedure to help stop the bleeding? There are other reasons other than telling the medics you have PM to have a MEDIC ALERT BRAC. As far as them checking your scar---- with all that's happening!!!!----- In the end it's up to you.
Vinnie

Don

by Pacemum - 2013-12-08 10:12:00

My post was merely to show different circumstances not differences between countries. It was used as an example of how this can effect peoples decisions as to whether to have medic alert.

Even in UK there is a vast difference to medical services in London as to those outside the capital.

Mum...

by donr - 2013-12-08 10:12:45

c

Alert bracelet /tag yes or no

by stormynw - 2018-01-29 08:55:04

This is a pretty old thread but interesting comments. I had my pacemaker implanted in May 2014 and I just today ordered a cool medic cuff bracelet because I have become 98 percent dependant and if for some reason, say a car accident, I needed to have the paddles used on me... For implanted pacemakers—External defibrillation could cause a temporary battery voltage reduction, which would cause the device to enter a reset condition. That would NOT be a good thing because the only way to reset it is to have the proper machine and with several different Pacemaker companies that would have to be done at a hospital. So I figured it can't hurt to wear one. If I forget to wear it it won't be the end of the world. But as far as them seeing a scar, mine has faded significantly AND my pacemaker is on the right side so not a likely place for medics to look. I drive a lot and did not want the seatbelt on it all the time so they put it on the right. It's also not MRI compatable so it can't hurt to wear one and what I like best is that it also lists emergency contact numbers.
 

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