May is MedicAlert Awareness Month.
By wearing a MedicAlert ID product and carrying a card, emergency responders have access to important information on your medical conditions quickly, and can call the MedicAlert Hotline at any time for a more detailed medical profile. MedicAlert trains paramedics and emergency responders on the “Look, Read, Call” procedure. The hotline operates 24 hours every day and is accessible in 140 languages. I have a MedicAlert so that emergency responders have easy access to important medical information when I am not able to provide it. In my family, my mother, two grandchildren, my niece, and my sister-in-law all have MedicAlert bracelets that they wear regularly. The bracelets vary in style and include key medical information, such as blood type. If you are a caregiver for a friend or family member, MedicAlert can give you added peace of mind that emergency responders will be able to give appropriate care to your loved one when or if that is needed.
The MedicAlert Foundation Canada suggests MedicAlert protection for people in a variety of cases. Here are some that you may be familiar with: allergies to bee stings, nuts, penicillin, sulfa drugs, latex, etc.; medical and cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, asthma, autism, diabetes, epilepsy, and heart disease; medications like blood thinners, chemotherapy, and insulin; devices such as a pacemaker, cochlear implant, or insulin pump; other needs: organ donor, no blood transfusions.
There is a special offer on now for frontline and essential workers new to MedicAlert; call
1-855-581-3793 to access it. If you register between April 1 and June 30, 2021, by phone only, MedicAlert is offering a free custom MedicAlert ID (there are seven options available, including various styles of bracelet, sports bands, and necklaces) for a one-year subscription. They’re also waiving their registration fee. A list of frontline or essential workers is posted on their website. This offer is not available online and is available while quantities last.
The Foundation offers a number of other programs that I was less aware of before researching this article. There is a “Safely Home” program that helps ensure that individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia who have wandered from home or are lost are quickly reunited with their loved ones. This program is nation-wide and in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada. A membership assistance program provides partial or full financial assistance for IDs and service plans for eligible applicants. The “No Child Without” program helps ensure that kids aged 4–14 with medical conditions receive free MedicAlert protection. Donations are welcome online to this charitable foundation.
2021 is the 60th anniversary of the MedicAlert Foundation Canada. Consider subscribing today. It will be a worthwhile use of your time during the provincial COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
