Medical ID

[Riggers]

Just wondering if people carry some form of medical ID, card, bracelet?
Had quite a heated discussion with my sister who is very insistent I carry a card in case I get a hypo, and something to give me if I’m unconscious. I have the details in my phone under ICE, but she is convinced that isn’t enough.
So what are your thoughts?

 

[Lucyr]

I don’t wear anything but I have medical id filled in on my phone and I always carry a fingerprick meter, insulin, wear a sensor, so it’s not that hard to find I’m diabetic. A paramedic would test BG anyway and I’m very hypo aware.

 

[Drummer]

It is rather dangerous to put anything into the mouth of an unconscious person. Even more dangerous to stick something into the mouth of a semiconscious person.
Can you get your sister on a First Aider course - for her safety as well as your own?

 

[Lauren]

No I don't carry anything but I have details under ICE and the insulin pump gives it away!
A paramedic would test BGs anyway if unconscious and hopefully the average person in the street would know not to put food in the mouth of an unconscious person. If you have a CGM with alerts hopefully you would never get to that stage anyway.

 

[Alan44]

The ID Band Company | Medical ID Bracelets, Necklaces & Accessories

Providing a huge range of medical ID jewellery and products, sports ID and kids ID. All personalisation done in-house and rapid dispatch.

theidbandco.com

I wear a silicon band which says I had an AAA operation 6 years ago (so don't take me to a cottage hospital, but a major hospital who can do AAA repairs) I'm also getting one which will say "Diabetic".

 

[CliffH]

Just wondering if people carry some form of medical ID, card, bracelet?
Had quite a heated discussion with my sister who is very insistent I carry a card in case I get a hypo, and something to give me if I’m unconscious. I have the details in my phone under ICE, but she is convinced that isn’t enough.
So what are your thoughts?

I wear a bracelet and I carry a card. I always have Lucozade and glucose tablets in the car and in the house. I don't tend to get hypos but I think that reassuring people who worry about me is a reasonable thing to do.

 

[Riggers]

I don’t wear anything but I have medical id filled in on my phone and I always carry a fingerprick meter, insulin, wear a sensor, so it’s not that hard to find I’m diabetic. A paramedic would test BG anyway and I’m very hypo aware.

This is what I do, don’t leave the house with all that stuff, and jelly babies, in a bag, which is permanently packed.

 

[Riggers]

It is rather dangerous to put anything into the mouth of an unconscious person. Even more dangerous to stick something into the mouth of a semiconscious person.
Can you get your sister on a First Aider course - for her safety as well as your own?

My thoughts too. My sister knew someone who went from fine to dead in 20 minutes due to a hypo. And is convinced that will happen to me.

 

[Riggers]

I wear a bracelet and I carry a card. I always have Lucozade and glucose tablets in the car and in the house. I don't tend to get hypos but I think that reassuring people who worry about me is a reasonable thing to do.

Where did you get these?

 

[Inka]

Yes, I wear a MedicAlert bracelet @Riggers I’ve worn it since diagnosis. One of my children has a different medical condition and wears one too. I think it’s sensible.

 

[Inka]

This is MedicAlert. They were recommended by my DSN:

MedicAlertUK

MedicAlert speaks for our members when they can't, via our membership service and custom-made medical ID jewellery.

www.medicalert.org.uk

.

 

[CliffH]

My thoughts too. My sister knew someone who went from fine to dead in 20 minutes due to a hypo. And is convinced that will happen to me.

Yes: even though we may have (unfortunately!) become experts about diabetes in general and hypos in particular, our friends and family may not be.

I don't mind doing something that I think is unnecessary if it makes people I care about worry less. Quite often I pour an 'emergency' bottle of Lucozade away because it's past its use by date and replace it with a new one - but so what?

I think I bought my bracelets (a posh metal one for everyday and a silicone one for when I'm cycling) and the card on Amazon. Don't Diabetes UK sell them though?

 

[Riggers]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I rarely have hypos, I have a good awareness of when I’m going low, as well as the sensor, so the JBs sort me out before I get to hypo .

 

[CliffH]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I rarely have hypos, I have a good awareness of when I’m going low, as well as the sensor, so the JBs sort me out before I get to hypo .

I misread "JBs" as 'JD'!

 

[Inka]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I rarely have hypos, I have a good awareness of when I’m going low, as well as the sensor, so the JBs sort me out before I get to hypo .

It’s not just for hypos. It’s good for paramedics to be able to see in the event of a non-diabetic incident, eg a car crash or fall. Paramedics are trained to check for medical ID and that’s easily done when checking a pulse.

 

[CliffH]

It’s not just for hypos. It’s good for paramedics to be able to see in the event of a non-diabetic incident, eg a car crash or fall. Paramedics are trained to check for medical ID and that’s easily done when checking a pulse.

I had a bad accident on my bike a couple of years ago: I didn't lose consciousness and so I was able to tell the paramedics that I have Type 1 Diabetes. If I had lost consciousness, though, they'd have seen my silicone bracelet and/or found the card in my phone wallet.

Knowing that I have Type I Diabetes was relevant to several of the medical decisions that the paramedics (and the hospital with which they were in phone contact) took in the ambulance, so I never leave home without a bracelet and a card. "Why bother with a card if you have a bracelet?" I hear you ask. My answer: "Haven't you seen the recent 'Unforgotten' series in which a man was dismembered?" 😱

 

[CliffH]

Thanks for your replies everyone.
I rarely have hypos, I have a good awareness of when I’m going low, as well as the sensor, so the JBs sort me out before I get to hypo .

For me it's partly about reassuring people who may know little about hypos. I was only diagnosed with Late Onset Type 1 in my 50s and my elderly mother only knows what I've told her about diabetes - or what she reads in the Daily Mail.

I joke with my mother that it's her job to check the 'use by' date on the bottle of Lucozade that I keep at her house! Normalising the precautions makes her worry less.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Yep I’ve always had some sort of ID with me. Initially I had an SOS Talisman around my neck, when the chain failed I put the information bit on my keyring (always with me). I have medical ID on my phone, a card in my wallet that might help first aiders or passers by, and one of the slightly ‘surfy’ ID wristbands from

The ID Band Company | Medical ID Bracelets, Necklaces & Accessories

Providing a huge range of medical ID jewellery and products, sports ID and kids ID. All personalisation done in-house and rapid dispatch.

theidbandco.com

 

[Lisa65]

There's an insulin passport in my wallet, but I don't always have it with me. I also have this on my watch strap. I've never had a hypo but I guess there's always a possibility.

 

[Eternal422]

I have worn a leather ID bracelet which had diabetes, on insulin and an ICE phone number, but since stopped wearing it. I’m in two minds about whether it’s worthwhile or not. Paramedics seem to check BG so they would identify a hypo, although may not be aware of the cause if you don’t have something saying you are diabetic?

In my mind it’s a bit harder to state what I am as I appear to be T2 but with very low insulin production, little insulin resistance and only on insulin. So not sure whether I would be treated differently to a T1 or not? At the moment I prefer not to carry an ID. I do have relevant information in my medical ID on my phone under ICE.