Emergencies from the Perspective of an EMT

There are times when emergencies arise and you don't think clearly. There are some common things that people overlook that could be a matter of life or death. As an EMT, I am going to let you in on some things to help out emergency personnel when they arrive to you in an emergency. It is better to take care of these things BEFORE an emergency arises.

Medications......... It is a good idea to carry a list of your medication that you take in your purse or wallet. This is a good idea in case of an accident when you can't communicate with emergency personnel. Please make sure you are only carrying your medication list. Sometimes when you are a caregiver, you usually have a list of their medication. If we can't talk to you or you can't answer, we are assuming these are your medications and that inhibits what drugs we can give you to stabilize you. It is also a good idea to have a medication list of your own on the refrigerator. If we come to your home, we don't know what medication you have taken or are prescribed.

Allergies........If you are allergic to anything, please list this on your medication page. Even if it is not medication that you are allergic to. This helps us on what may be going on with you or helps if we need to give you medication.

Emergency contact........If you live alone, please list an emergency contact on your refrigerator. Take out that slip of paper we discussed above with your medications and allergies and also put on your emergency contact information. We would like to contact a loved one or whom ever you need contacted.

Cell phones.......Did you know if you have a cell phone and even if it doesn't have service you may still call 911? If you have to use a cell phone to contact 911, be prepared to tell your location. It depends on which tower you go through to where your call is routed. It may not be your local 911 office if you are out of range for them. Also, a good idea and something we look for is contact numbers in your phone if you are away from your home when the emergency arises. A good idea is to pick who you want called first for your emergency contact. Go into your contacts and label this person as ICE 1. Pick another contact and label them ICE 2. This tells us that this is who you want called.

Please take my advice and do these above hints for the sake of your emergency treatment so you can get he best treatment possible.