A medical identification tag is a small

emblem An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...

or tag worn on a

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

, neck chain, or on the clothing bearing a message that the wearer has an important

medical condition A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

that might require immediate attention. For emergency medical providers such as

paramedics A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), m ...

and

emergency physicians An emergency physician (often called an "ER doctor" in the United States) is a physician who works in an emergency department to care for ill patients. The emergency physician specializes in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support i ...

, medical identification tags are particularly useful in situations where the wearer is unconscious, altered mental status, very young, or otherwise unable to provide critical medical information. The tag is often made out of

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...

. A wallet

card Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...

with the same information may be used instead of or along with a tag, and a stick-on medical ID tag may be added or used alone. A type of medic identification alert is the USB medical alert tag, essentially a USB flash drive with capacity to store a great deal of emergency information, including contacts and medical conditions. This information is accessible by any computer with a USB port. However, the practical effectiveness of such a system is limited in many cases by medical computer systems that restrict the use of USB devices which may carry malware. It is also possible that a device carried by an unconscious person may not be their own, or not be up to date, with concomitant risks to health and legal liability of medical personnel. Another new type of medic identification alert is QR code based medical alert stickers. The QR code on the sticker links to a

web service A web service (WS) is either: * a service offered by an electronic device to another electronic device, communicating with each other via the Internet, or * a server running on a computer device, listening for requests at a particular port over a n ...

that contains the individual's emergency information. The information is accessed by any first responder or emergency personnel by scanning the QR code by using a

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

. In addition to QR codes there are now products that include an embedded RFID chip that allows a first-responder to simply tap their phone against the device. Since a web service is used to store the information there is normally no limitation of how much information that can be stored.

Conditions for use

Typical conditions or prescriptions warranting the wearing of such a tag include but are not limited to: *

Adrenal insufficiency Adrenal insufficiency is a condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce adequate amounts of steroid hormones. The adrenal glands—also referred to as the adrenal cortex—normally secrete glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol), mineraloco ...

* Advance Medical Directives (

Do Not Resuscitate A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR), also known as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR), no code or allow natural death, is a medical order, written or oral depending on the jurisdiction, indica ...

, POLST,

Lasting Power of Attorney Lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) in English law were created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and came into effect on 1 October 2007. The LPA replaced the former enduring powers of attorney (EPA) which were narrower in scope. Their purpose is ...

Living Will An advance healthcare directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, medical directive or advance decision, is a document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longe ...

) *

Anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis (Greek: 'up' + 'guarding') is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of the use of emergency medication on site. It typicall ...

allergies Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

(food, drug, insect) *

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Angioedema Angioedema is an area of swelling (edema) of the lower layer of skin and tissue just under the skin or mucous membranes. The swelling may occur in the face, tongue, larynx, abdomen, or arms and legs. Often it is associated with hives, which are ...

(hereditary) *

Anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

Asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

* Asplenia *

Autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

* Cerebrovascular incident *

Chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

* Blood type (rare) *

Dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

Diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

( Type 1 and 2) *

Epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

Hemodialysis Hemodialysis, American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, also spelled haemodialysis, or simply ''"'dialysis'"'', is a process of filtering the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working normally. This type of Kidney dialys ...

Hemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

Hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia (American English), also spelled hypoglycaemia or hypoglycæmia (British English), sometimes called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's tria ...

Hypopituitarism Hypopituitarism is the decreased (''hypo'') secretion of one or more of the eight hormones normally produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. If there is decreased secretion of one specific pituitary hormone, the condition is know ...

Lamotrigine Lamotrigine ( ), sold under the brand name Lamictal among others, is a medication used to treat epilepsy and stabilize mood in bipolar disorder. For epilepsy, this includes focal seizures, tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures in Lennox-Gastau ...

* Drug-induced Long-QT syndrome *

Lymphedema Lymphedema, also known as lymphoedema and lymphatic edema, is a condition of localized edema, swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. The lymphatic system functions as a critical portion of the body's immune system and returns inters ...

risk * Use of a

monoamine oxidase inhibitor Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are a drug class, class of drugs that inhibit the activity of one or both monoamine oxidase enzymes: monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). They are best known as effective antidepressa ...

(MAOI) drug, which can interact fatally with

epinephrine Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands a ...

* Memory disorders *

Pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

or other implantable medical devices *

Porphyria Porphyria ( or ) is a group of disorders in which substances called porphyrins build up in the body, adversely affecting the skin or nervous system. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as Porphyria#Acute porphyrias, acute p ...

(acute) *

Seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

disorders *

Situs inversus ''Situs inversus'' (also called ''situs transversus'' or ''oppositus'') is a Congenital disorder, congenital condition in which the major Organ (anatomy), visceral organs are reversed or mirror image, mirrored from their normal positions. The norm ...

Von Willebrand Disease Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common heredity, hereditary coagulopathy, blood-clotting disorder in humans. An acquired form can sometimes result from other medical conditions. It arises from a deficiency in the quality or quantity of ...

Information provided

In addition to mention of the relevant medical condition(s), the tag may have a telephone number that medical personnel can call for more information, for example that of physician, care-giver or

next of kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...

. Where applicable and provided, the wearer's national health service user number can enable access to a more detailed case history. Basically, the medical information tag, engraved with the wearer's personal medical problem or history, speak for the wearer when the wearer can't. Incidentally and where the symptoms can mislead, such a tag may also be useful as evidence of such a condition to law enforcement personnel.

Types

There are various types of medical ID available. The most common form of medical ID is jewelry which provides a logo or inscription indicating a particular medical condition. These medical identification tags can be made out of stainless steel (usually classified as 316L and known as

surgical stainless steel Surgical stainless steel is a grade of stainless steel used in biomedical applications. The most common "surgical steels" are austenitic SAE 316 stainless and martensitic SAE 440, SAE 420, and 17-4 stainless steels. There is no formal definiti ...

), sterling silver or gold. If found by emergency personnel the inscription provides an indication of the wearer's special medical needs. Tags are available with pre-engraved conditions or can be custom engraved with your specific medical histories and have the benefit that all information is self-contained and does not require any form of technology to view in case of an emergency. Type One Diabetes Alert Bracelet

Another type of medical ID jewelry indicates membership in a medical information organization such as the MedicAlert Foundation, American Medical ID, and StickyJ Medical ID. Such medical ID jewelry includes a member identification number and a toll-free number or URL for medical emergency personnel to obtain full information about the wearer's medical conditions, treatment, and history. These organizations maintain a database of medical information on their members and can provide it to medical personnel when requested. The newest technology allows the user to carry stickers with an

NFC Tag Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the bootst ...

. A similar technology allows the user to carry stickers with a QR code. By scanning the NFC Tag or the QR code with a smartphone, you will reach the stored medical alert information. Modern mobile phones typically have a facility to gain access to the owner's medical emergency information (only) from the lock screen. Silicone bracelets, preprinted with a general medical condition or allergy, are also popular. The lack of personalization may be a deterrent. Recently patients have begun to tattoo their medical condition on their wrist or arm, but if the individual's medical condition changes the tattoo would have to change as well. A temporary tattoo might work just as well as a permanent tattoo. Other items include stick on tags that stick onto a driver's license, wallet, or cell phone which are practical for the person who does not want to carry something extra advertising their medical condition. However, in general, emergency medical personnel are trained to look on the patient's wrists for a medical id, and may not look elsewhere. Another type of medical jewelry is a pendant or wrist strap containing a wireless alert button, also known as a panic button, worn in the home as part of a wireless medical alert system. This type of medical jewelry sends a signal to a dialing console which contacts a monitoring service or directly dials first responders when an emergency occurs.

Conditions for use

Information provided

Types

See also

References

Further reading