USB Technology for Emergencies

It seems like every month technology gets smaller and smaller. As everything becomes smaller and lighter, it starts to be easier to carry things around. There are several different applications for these advances. One of these may be able to save the lives of you and your children. Whether you choose to use a bracelet, necklace, or carry a card in your wallet or purse, you can easily carry all of your information virtually unnoticed.

One option is to use a USB bracelet. There are several of these on the market and you can even find some customized versions that are created for medical reasons. These range from a small rubberish, plastic type that come in an array of colors, to a rather fashionable steel bracelet with the red cross emblem emblazoned on it. Even if you get the plastic version, you can easily put the emblem on it or stamp it as emergency information.

When it comes to the necklaces, there are many different varieties. You can find everything from a diamond plated Hello Kitty with 4 Gig drive charm to a diamond pennant. Most of these charms do not come with the necklace, but those can be found fairly cheap all over the place. The only hard part about this method is labeling the charm so that people know it contains medical information. Most people will check for a bracelet, but not many people think of charms or necklaces for USB or medical information. One way you can counter this is by carrying a card in your wallet that tells people to check the necklace.

One other method is a card that slips into your wallet. This is similar to a thick credit card that contains a pop out USB connection. These are nice and convenient, but they can get costly. There is only one company (that I know of) that currently carries these and they charge a yearly fee of $15 aside from the cost of the card. The benefit is that they are labeled as emergency information and they also have an 800 number to call if you do not have immediate computer access to get the information. The fact that paramedics now carry computers at all times makes this only applicable to someone finding your on the side of the road before calling 911.

Once you have the device that you want to use, you just have to put the information into it. A simple text or word document is all that you need for this. You may want to save this as a rich text file (.rtf) to make sure that anyone can read this. You don't want there be a problem with compatibility while you are bleeding to death. You want to make it very official looking and in a standard format. This will ensure that the information can be found quickly. Here is a good form to use as a base. You may want to include the location of your medical records, your doctor and dentist, and any conditions that you may suffer from. Any additional information that you can think of would only be a bonus. The more information that you can provide for the paramedics and first responders, the better off you will be.

No matter what method you use, all of these things can help you survive an emergency. Even if you don't have any medical conditions, you may still want to consider having one of these. Having one of these can let the paramedics and emergency workers contact your family, or in the case of kids, you can be contacted faster if something happens. You can also use these for pets. You can easily attach one of these to a collar in case your pet is lost. A charm may be easier for this than trying to attach a bracelet. If we start using technology to help us, there is no limit to the protection and security we can offer our entire family, the small furry ones included.