Medical ID BraceletMost of us have a basic understanding of what a medical alert bracelet is and what it is used for. Many of us may even have had them recommended to us by our doctor or another healthcare professional.  But few of us really understand the true extent of the benefit a handy little medical ID bracelet provides.

Read on to learn about four ways a medical id bracelet can save your life, some of them might just astound you!

Clarification of Symptoms

In order to implement life-saving care, medical staff must quickly and effectively solve the puzzle of what is wrong with a patient and how it can be put right. More often than not, this puzzle is easily cracked by a trained doctor or healthcare practitioner, but in some cases, even experienced professionals may find it difficult to make an accurate diagnosis.

For example, some conditions have misleading symptoms which mimic those of other conditions. Fibromyalgia – which causes patients to experience pain across wide areas of the body – can be mistaken for an underacting thyroid or osteoarthritis, which require different treatment regimens. To implement the correct care, doctors must know exactly what condition they are dealing with. If a patient is wearing a medical ID bracelet, doctors can quickly crack the code and deliver the care required.

Precise Communication

Some conditions, like epilepsy, may render the patient unable to communicate their medical history and requirements to hospital staff, while others, such as amnesia or other memory disorders, may make it difficult for the patient to know and express exactly what is happening to them.

With conditions such as these, medical ID bracelets are vital. These handy pieces of kit carry all the information doctors need to act decisively and effectively, no matter what condition the patient is in on arriving at a hospital. This ensures that appropriate and potentially life-saving care can be administered without delay.

Secondary Treatments

Of course, there are times when a patient will require treatment for an illness or injury not related to their long-term condition. In these cases, doctors need to know precisely what treatments are compatible with the patient’s pre-existing conditions, whether the drugs they need to administer will interfere with the patient's current medication, and what preparations they must make before the patient can be treated.

Maybe the patient has a rare blood type, in which case the doctor must quickly ascertain which blood type is required for a successful transfusion. Or maybe the patient suffers from a condition that makes some drugs ineffectual or even dangerous. Doctors and healthcare professionals need to know this information, and delivering the information via a medical alert bracelet could save the patient’s life.

Quick and Accurate Identification with a Medical ID Bracelet

Medical alert bracelets are sometimes associated with being uncool and not stylish, which has made people reluctant to wear them. Also, many people understandably feel that their personal medical information is no one else’s business and should be kept private. As an alternative, many patients have opted to find other ways of conveying their medical conditions to doctors and healthcare workers, such as by carrying a credit card-sized information sheet in their purse or wallet.

However, this practice can cause problems. In the event of an emergency, a doctor needs to know precisely what is wrong and exactly what treatments can put it right as quickly as possible. Wasting precious seconds or minutes searching a patient for such medical ID can cause complications with the treatment and can even prove lethal.

There are ways to get around this. A modern medical ID bracelet is more lightweight and discreet allowing you to keep your personal information hidden unless a medical professional needs to access it. They can also be customised or personalised to make them more stylish and less intrusive to the wearer.

Simple, light-weight, but potentially life-saving; this is the medical ID bracelet in a nutshell. Don't forget to share this vital information with your friends and family, or on social media!