Do You Need a Medical Alert Bracelet?

A medical alert bracelet is a special bracelet worn by people who have serious medical condition, drug allergies, or other special needs. It alerts emergency medical personnel to vital information that might affect treatment, in the event the wearer of the bracelet is unable to communicate that information. For instance, people with diabetes often wear medical alert bracelets. If you go into insulin shock, you wouldn't be able to explain to the EMT's that you are diabetic. But they would see your bracelet and know what the cause of the problem might be. They would be able to make a diagnosis and begin treatment much more quickly than they would if they didn't know you were diabetic. Or what if you were allergic to morphine? If you were in a serious car accident and taken to the emergency room for treatment, they might want to give you morphine for pain. If you had on a bracelet that said you were allergic to morphine, you could be spared a possibly dangerous drug reaction.

People who could benefit from wearing a medical alert bracelet include anyone with a serious medical condition, anyone who is allergic to any drug (especially those likely to be administered in an emergency situation), and anyone who has special needs that would indicate special treatment in an emergency. Specifically, people who could benefit from wearing a medical alert bracelet include:

* People with diabetes.

* People with seizure disorders.

* People allergic to common drugs, like morphine or penicillin.

* People with serious food allergies, like peanut allergies.

* People with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.

* People with mental illness.

* People who have had a gastric bypass.

* People who have had an organ transplant.

* People who are hearing impaired.

This is only a partial list, of course. Other people with other conditions or special needs might also benefit from wearing a medical alert bracelet. If you have any special health needs, talk to your doctor to find out if he or she advises you to wear a bracelet. Companies that sell medical alert bracelet may also be able to advise you, but of course they want to sell as many bracelets as possible, so talking to your doctor is the best way to decide if you really need one.

Talk to your doctor about what to have engraved on your medical alert bracelet, as well, if you decide to buy one. There is limited space available to write on them, of course, so you need to put the most pertinent information on them. People usually put things like "diabetes," "allergic to morphine," or "gastric bypass" on their bracelets. People may also put "in emergency call" and a telephone number on their bracelets. You can either put your doctor's phone number or the number of a family member. That person should be able to give emergency medical personnel additional information about your condition, medications you take, and so on.