Emergency Medical Bracelet?

Deafteen90 said:
how do i know if my implant is mri safe? I was implanted in 2000
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NO implant is MRI safe until your hospital does a surgery to remove the magnet. So, even if your implant is safe after surgical removal, your medical ID should say 'cochlear implant NO MRI'

Ask your audi or CI audi if your implant is mri safe after magnet removal.
 
deafteen,

the freedom is indeed safe for mri's provided the magnet is removed. magnet removal isn't complicated and only takes about 15 minutes. it involves making a small incision, removing the magnet, inserting a new magnet and stitching it back up.
 
i chose to indicate "no mri" on my medic alert bracelet because i don't want to have to deal with magnet removal in the first place. i'd prefer to have a ct scan instead.
 
Aleser said:
If your purse, and especially if your purse and CI processor, get lost in an accident things -may- very badly. Your internal implant, if it's one of the newer ones, is MRI-safe, but the magnet has to be removed (a minor surgery) before.. if the hospital does not know and you are not in condition to tell them, you could end up in a lot of trouble.

A medical ID is a lot less likely to get detached from you in an accident compared to your purse.
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EMTs are not required to check purses, pockets or wallets for medical information. that's why it's a good idea to have a medic alert bracelet instead. i've had mine for the past 4 years and wear it 24/7 -- even in the shower. i also have a spare for backup in case my original gets lost.
 
I had one all through school with my info on it but havent had one since my car wreck in 2006, I think it's time since we got our income tax done to check into getting me another one, especially since I have these new things happening:shock:
 
I have seizure because should put on bracelet for seziure I should buy for bracelet .I hope medical alert. I think so possible buy help you seziure very serious That is important cochlear implant and seziure that is depend on bracelet
 
Deaf and hard of hearing people should wear a medical bracelet

Medical IDs can save lives.
We may not see deafness as a medical condition or problem but paramedics and emergency room doctors need to know. For example, the Glasgow coma scale, the standard scale to assess if and how badly your brain is damaged has a whole section that gives points based on responses to verbal commands.
If I can't hear the verbal command, the doctors may think my condition is worse than it is and may begin a more aggressive treatment.

I've had a few major surgeries in my life and a bracelet that says "Deaf" would have prevented a bunch of confusion in the recovery room. Since surgery usually involves intubation (putting a tube down your throat so that you can breathe while you are in surgery) and intubation usually causes a sore throat, every time I wake up from anesthesia I instinctively sign. They let me wear my hearing aids during surgery (or I show the nurse how to operate my BTEs so that they can put them in after surgery) so I can hear some of their questions; however, because of the sore throat, I don't answer verbally. I recently had my tonsils taken out and my throat was REALLY sore (the doctor also said I had the most disgusting tonsils he had seen!).
I heard the nurse say something about pain, because of the medicine they gave me in surgery I felt like I couldn't open my eyes and nothing would stay in focus. I signed, "pain very feel", they didn't know what to do, I tried to open my eyes to give them the "of course I'm in pain! Your surgeon just spent 3 hours cutting my throat open!" look but I couldn't keep my eyes open.
When they repeated their question I signed again but this time I nodded my head and signed, "yes pain very feel". They gave me a bunch of pain killers after that!

I'm ordering a bracelet tonight. It will say something about deafness, asthma and medication allergies.

Don't be stubborn with your health. Doctors and nurses need to know as much about you as possible in order to help you. Trust me, in a few years I will be "ecp MD".:)
 
ecp said:
Medical IDs can save lives.
We may not see deafness as a medical condition or problem but paramedics and emergency room doctors need to know. For example, the Glasgow coma scale, the standard scale to assess if and how badly your brain is damaged has a whole section that gives points based on responses to verbal commands.
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This is exactly why I have "blind" written on my Medic Alert bracelet. If doctors do not know that I'm totally blind, they will end up wasting alot of time trying to get a visual response from me.

The same thing is true in regards to my deafness. Without my CIs, I am 100% deaf. If God forbid I'm in a car accident and my processors are lost, I have no way to communicate the fact that I cannot see or hear.

Furthermore, if I need emergency surgery, one of the meds I take can negatively affect anesthesia levels which is why it is important for surgeons to know this as well.
 
I have a Cochlear Patient card in my purse. It also has my name, my address, the hospital where I was implant and my CI centre phone number
 
The only problem with the Cochlear ID card is that ENT personnel usually do not go through a person's pockets or purse to find it. This is why I have a Medic Alert bracelet.
 
HearAgain is right.
If you were in a car accident or other accident, one of the first things paramedics have to do is see your body. In order to do this they cut your clothes off with scissors and the clothes go straight into a bag. At the hospital the bag eventually gets handed to a nurse so that the nurse can contact family.
The nurse may not get the bag until after procedures have been preformed.
A card in your pocket or purse won't be seen for quite a while if you are seriously injured.
However, medical professionals know to check for metal on your body before a MRI and a medical bracelet will be obvious. Also, you should wear it on your left arm (but I wear mine on my right arm).

One thing that sucked about Medical Alert bracelets for me (I wore one in high school and most of college) is that referees ALWAYS thought it was jewelry. I played soccer and lacrosse and before games the ref usually talks to each team to make sure lacrosse sticks meet regulations or that everybody is wearing proper shinguards for soccer. They also check for jewelry. Each time I had to explain that it was a medical ID.

Only one ref made me take it off before the game but the damn things are so hard to remove that one of my teammates had to help me and the start of the game was delayed for ~5 min (I was a starter). Embarrassing.
 
ecp,

Why should one wear a Medic Alert bracelet on their left arm? (I wear mine on the right because I like to wear a Braille watch on my left arm.) Is it because EMTs naturally check the left arm first?
 
ecp said:
Only one ref made me take it off before the game but the damn things are so hard to remove that one of my teammates had to help me and the start of the game was delayed for ~5 min (I was a starter). Embarrassing.
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Why are Medic Alert bracelets hard to remove? Was it because of the shin guards you were wearing?
 
I didn't know about ER Medical Bracelet. It's new to me. That's very interesting to know. It's good idea for every nurses to know the person is deaf with ER medical bracelet. That's same as allergy, diabetic, Asthma and other. I wore a medical bracelet for allergy before.
 
If you have HAs and are accident, the responders will know to check your HAs and recover them if they are lost.

A neighbor who is blind and has seizures was detained by police at the mall. They thought that she was drunk or mentally ill. Not a good experience! Now she wears a bracelet with her info.
 
I have a Medic Alert bracelet which says I'm deaf, blind and have bilateral cochlear implants. I recently learned I have an allergy to sulfa. I was also diagnosed with asthma this week, so I will be adding this information as well.
 
I do not have one , but it not a bad idea! I was in bad auto accident , I was
T Boned and the impact was so hard both of my hearing were knocked out! When I got to the ER the doctors did not know I was HOH and I was unconscious. A med. ID would had been helpful !
 
VamPyroX said:
I don't see why a bracelet for deaf people is needed. It's not a medical concern.

Allergies is a medical concern.

Diabetes is a medical concern.

Deafness is not.

You could have it put on your license. :)
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If have you an accident and lose your HA and are unconscious , it would help the doctors to know that you're HOH . this happen to me!
 
SOOO after being harassed to do so, I finally got my medicalert bracelet ordered and on the way:) You give all your info and they tell you what you should have on the bracelet so this is what mine is going to say:
DEAF: USES
HEARING AIDS &
LIPREADING/ASTHMA
ALLERGY: CEFACLOR
& PENICILLINS
 
damn! thanks for bumping this thread, Alicia. You just reminded me to order one. :doh:
 
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