Medical Alerts Necessary for Children with Chronic Conditions

Within two week's of each other, our two and six year old were diagnosed with asthma/allergy/unknown pulmonary issues and epilepsy, respectively.  This was in 2008 so we have had a lot to deal with in a short amount of time especially when it involves two children.

The six year requires twice a day medication for her epilepsy and the two year old receives twice a day Flovent and once a day Singulair for asthma and allergies. Both also require us to carry around rescue medications. 

We've had numerous hospitalizations and one near death experience with the two year old intubated for over a week and in the hospital for two weeks with and no known reason why she crashed so hard by numerous experts.

Since this time, I've learned a few things about how necessary it is to have records of visits, hospitalizations, procedures, diagnosis, medications and so forth.  I created a folder and indexed it by the date so I could easily pull out the medical records for the doctors. 

Being that we are Army, we are required to utilize those facilities and we just happen to be in one location where they are inadequate for providing services to children so our children are referred to a local children's hospital (which is a pain in itself to get referrals and I won't even discuss my nightmare over cervical cancer and the government's health care program). 

Given that, they have been to a couple of different places which makes understanding the medical history harder.   The folder really seemed to help the doctors with each hospitalization so I continue to build on this.  I even created one for my elderly father who seems to be a little on the forgetful side.

I was very excited to see that American Medical ID now has a USB e*MedTAG that easily stores all this information so the doctors can just download.  They also have a dog tag version coming out soon.

Portable personal health file contained on a compact, easy to carry USB thumb drive.

An ideal companion to a Medical ID bracelet or necklace, e•MedTAG offers extra space for medical details not engraved on the ID. Use e•MedTAG to better organize and easily access your medical information. Pre-loaded forms make it simple to set up and update. No CDs or online installation is required.

It's so portable you can even put it in your glove box, purse, briefcase or backpack.

• Doctor Visits
• Pharmacy Consults
• While Traveling
• In an Emergency

I have bought two types of medical IDs for the six year old in school. I bought the necklace version at first but worried about it getting caught on playground equipment. I then switched to the sports bracelet since it's appealing to kids. American Medical ID has very nice products to choose from and specials if you buy more than one.

The necklace choice for kids allow for them to show some style but also allows them to have a choice which means a lot for some.  They have versions for boys and girls and you can select the chain length.

They have hundreds to choose from, free personalized engraving, an online medical registry available 24/7, no membership fees, a free engraving warranty and the option to receive helpful medical updates via e-mail.