Thanks for all the input on my post regarding the medical alert
jewelry. My sister was an EMT, and I unfortunately have a few
hundred frequent flier miles on the ambulances (asthma, food
allergies), so yes, I know how darned important they are! I just
tend to want to leave the “army dog tag” look behind when I go out
somewhere nice, and informal polling shows I’m not the only one.
I have already contacted several of the Emergency Medical Tech forums
and got their input. I also have the names and addresses of the
emergency journals they read that I will be at least submitting pics
and an article to. So yes, I know marketing to the emergency
responders is the first priority. I will be taking the preliminary
designs around to a few of the ER and ambulance companies in town for
input before even submitting them for modelling. I’ll also be
including a sheet that the buyer can take or send to the local fire
department or ambulance companies (usually the first responders).
FYI, for any of those of you who do occasionaly make them, the most
common thing they told me on the EMS forums is that most of the
charms and pendants are WAY too tiny, and becoming more so.
Apparantly the major players in the medical jewelry industry in an
effort to make the medical ID’s more appealing to the masses
(instead of more attractive) are making them smaller and are losing
sight of the function, which is
Under 1 inch in length is a impractical. Most “charms” they are
seeing are less than 1/2 inch around. The italian charm bracelets
are a joke, they are so small they can’t see the emblem, much less
the lettering. The 800 numbers and no medical data are often a
waste of critical time, if they can ever get someone to answer.
Many of the bracelets get cut off, because they are just as hard to
get off as they are to put on (that darned double J clasp). Some of
the older EMT’s actually don’t even look for a tag, but for the huge
curb chain
As to engraving - lets just say that unless the engraving is set off
in black patina and at least in 8 point block letters then reading
the thing in a parking lot, train/subway station, or the back of an
ambulance at night is mostly guesswork from a couple letters. In
hospitals they may be readable, but for first responders (EMT and
Firefighters/medics) please use decent point size.
The cadeucus symbol (twin snakes, winged staff) is not the universal
emergency symbol. The caduceus is typically viewed by people in the
medical profession as denoting that the wearer is also in the
medical profession. The exception seems to be “Miss Brooke’s
Medicharms” which acording to Mothers of Asthmatics and the Food
Allergy and Anaphalaxis Network forums tend to do a good job of
getting kids to actually wear an alert medallion (apparantly not a
small feat) and have enough of the catchy red around the cadeucus to
be saving quite a few lives if your customers like teddy bears,
hearts, trains, frogs, football helmets, etc. Although these charms
are fairly small in comparison to their “dogtag” pendant, on a
child’s body they stand out enough, and it’s fairly obvious if a
child is having an airway obstruction vs. a diabetic crisis, which
are usually the two most common reasons kids need to wear them. The
"star of life" is considered the universal medical symbol. (flat
edged six sided star with single snake around a staff). The blue
star of life from the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin is based
on the red American Medical Assn’s. "Universal Emergency Symbol"
which I can’t find or get a copy of to even look at from the AMA,
but apparantly the main difference is that the NHTSA made the sides
of the star flat and is blue to denote emergnecy medical workers
whereas the AMA version had a concave curve and is red. The AMA’s
version is expressly copyright free if you can ever find it. “Medic
Alert” is a registered trade name and trademark, therefore a no-no
to mention unless you are actually selling their brand. So you
see, I have been doing my research for a bit before bringing this to
you all.
Hugs,
Tina McDonald
