Nearly half of Australians are suffering from at least one chronic illness. If you're among these individuals dealing with a chronic illness or allergy, it's important that anyone giving you medical help is aware of your conditions and medical history.

However, if you're unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, there's no way for them to know how to treat you.

This is where a medical alert bracelet comes in. It includes essential information about you that paramedics, nurses, and doctors can read. With limited space, however, you need to make sure you use the correct medical abbreviations so there's no confusion about what you need.

Keep reading to learn about some of the most common abbreviations of medical terms that can be found on a medical alert bracelet.

Most Common Medical Abbreviations

Let's get right into some of the most common medical abbreviations that you can use on medical ID bracelets. There are three broad categories we'll go through. These include medical conditions, medications, and allergies.

Keep in mind that these are only the most common ones used. If you have something not listed, you'll need to look up what abbreviation is appropriate for your situation. When in doubt, you may want to go ahead and have it written out to be safe. This is especially true for any life-threatening conditions.

Medical Conditions

If you have any medical condition that can cause you to fall unconscious or become incapable of communicating, it's particularly important that you have your condition written on your medical ID bracelet. This allows first responders to take the correct course of action to treat you.

Here are some of the most common medical conditions included on medical alert bracelets along with their abbreviations:

• Alzheimer's disease: ALZ
• Aortic valve replacement: AVR
• Arteriosclerotic heart disease: AHD
• Automatic implantable cardiac defibrillator: AICD
• Cancer: CA
• Chronic kidney disease: CKD
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: COPD
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia: CAH
• Congestive heart failure: CHF
• Coronary artery disease: CAD
• Coronary heart disease: CHD
• Cystic fibrosis: CF
• Deep vein thrombosis: DVT
• Diabetic ketoacidosis: DKA
• Diabetes mellitus: DM
• Hypertension: HTN
• Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: IDDM
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: ITP
• Mitral valve prolapse: MVP
• Small airways disease: SAD
• Von Willebrand's disease: VWD

Since many of these conditions require specific medications to treat, the sooner a medical professional knows what you have, the sooner you can get life-saving assistance.

Medications

You will also need to include any medications you are taking on your medical alert bracelet. This is because some medications can cause life-threatening conditions when combined. For example, if you are taking Warfarin, there are a number of medications that can interact with it, including aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen.

For this reason, you need medical staff to know what you're on if you can't tell them yourself. Here are a few of the most common medications that appear on medical alert bracelets.

• Aspirin: ASA
• Epinephrine: EPI
• Auto-injector epinephrine pen: EPIPEN
• Erythromycin ethylsuccinate: EES
• Penicillin: PCN
• Tetracycline: TCN

Because there are so many medications, many of these are written out instead of abbreviated to prevent confusion. Sometimes, the type of medication is used instead of the specific type, like "BLOOD THINNERS." This is helpful if you are taking several different medications for the same condition so you don't have to write them all out.

To indicate that these are medications you are taking, you'll use "ON" before each of them. For example, if you're on aspirin, you would write "ON ASPIRIN" on your alert bracelet. Be sure to include this since you will also want to include medications you're allergic to.

Allergies

Almost 20% of Australia's adults and children have some type of allergy. While many of these are minor, some can send an individual into anaphylactic shock, a dangerous condition in which your airways close to the point of not being able to breathe.

To let others know what may have triggered your current condition and to prevent you from having a reaction, you need to include things you're allergic to on your medical ID bracelet. This could include medications, foods, or other substances.

There are two ways to indicate you're allergic to something on your bracelet. You can either write "NO" or "ALGY" before the word or medical abbreviation. Often, these are things that are written out because they are often medications or foods that don't have abbreviations.

Here are some common allergies that you may want to include on a medical alert bracelet:

• Tree nuts or peanuts
• Shellfish
• Latex
• Bees

If, on the other hand, you have no known allergies, you can include "NKA" on your bracelet. If you have some allergies but none to medications, you can include "NKDA" on your bracelet to show you have no known drug allergies. These are also helpful to include when possible to let first responders know they can give you anything without fear.

Other Medical ID Bracelet Terms

Let's look at some of the other abbreviations you may want to include on your medical ID bracelet. Some of these let others know your preferences for being resuscitated while others will help doctors know what medical tests they can and cannot perform. Some of these may be medically necessary to include while others are up to you.

Resuscitation Preferences

Whether or not you want to be resuscitated in the event of an emergency is a personal choice. You can indicate this on your medical alert bracelet with the following abbreviations.

• Basic life support: BLS
• Do not resuscitate: DNR
• Don't hospitalize: DNH
• Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation: DNACPR

These let first responders and medical professionals know how far to go with their life-saving efforts based on what your desires are.

Diagnostic and Treatment Restrictions

You may have something in your body or a condition that makes certain diagnostic tests dangerous for you. A great example of this is if you have anything metal in your body. You can't receive an MRI because it uses strong magnets and can pull metal from your body.

Some forms of treatment can also be dangerous in certain conditions. If you have had gastric bypass surgery, it's dangerous for doctors to insert a nasogastric tube.

Here are some of the abbreviations you may want to use for these situations:

• Intrauterine device in place: IUD
• NARROW AIRWAY
• No contrast dye: NO CT
• Nothing by mouth: NPO
• NO MRI
• No chest x-rays: NO CXR

With this information, doctors will know how their diagnostic or treatment options may be limited. It may also save your life or prevent you from needing further medical attention.

Something else that falls into this category would be joint replacements and amputations. Some medical abbreviations that deal with joint replacements include:

• Above-knee amputation: AKA
• Below-the-knee amputation: BKA
• Bilateral total knee replacement: BTKR
• Total hip replacement: THR
• Total knee replacement: TKR

You can also write, "AFL" if you have an artificial limb and want to be sure medical professionals are aware of it.

Transplants

If you have had any type of transplant in the past, it's important for medical staff to know that. In most cases, you'll simply want to write what you received followed by "TX." For example, if you received a kidney transplant, you can write "KIDNEY TX" on your medical ID bracelet.

The only exception to this is bone marrow. If you've had a bone marrow transplant, you can write "BMT" on it.

Blood Type

When you're in need of a blood transfusion, there's no time to waste. If a medical professional can quickly glance at your wrist to find out what blood type you have instead of doing a blood type test, this can shave enough time off of the procedure to save your life.

To add your blood type to your medical alert bracelet, you can simply write, "BLOOD TYPE" with the letter noting which type you are next to it. So, if you have type A+, you can write, "BLOOD TYPE A+" on your bracelet.

Contact Information

The last piece of information you may need to have added to your medical alert bracelet would be contact information. To do that, simply add, "ICE" along with a phone number of an emergency contact. This is particularly important for anyone with any conditions that impair cognition and non-verbal children or adults.

How to Include Information on a Medical Alert Bracelet

Once you know what to include on your medical ID bracelet, you can organize it in order of importance. In most cases, that would be the following order:

1. Medical conditions
2. Medications you're on or allergic to
3. Any other allergies
4. Your emergency contact information

Always ask your doctor if you're not sure what you need to put on your medical alert bracelet. This is the only person that can definitively tell you what pieces of information are most critical in an emergency situation.

Ready to Order Your Medical Bracelet?

Now you know some of the most common medical abbreviations to include on a medical alert bracelet. As you can see, it's important to know these if you have any health conditions that could affect the type of medical care you need to receive. This way, first responders can quickly know if you require special care.

If you're ready to get a medical bracelet for yourself or a loved one, customize one now. You can choose what type of medical alert product you want and have it engraved with whatever information you need.