My Dad has one and is great. If he is unwell and isn't with my Mum then someone will know what may be going on. He has medical problems too which is good to have the alert for also.
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i wouldnt say you would need one for mental health, but apparently on the website it says its can be sued for that.
I would have said its only for people that really need one, if you have a condition or an allergy to something, my mum has one because shes alergic to a drug that can kill her.
But personally i wouldnt wear one for mh problems.
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
they are useful if you are on medication, as people need to know in a emergency what you are on, and they also give details of next of kin/medical details.
whether you would need one cos of mh probs, i guess depends on whether you might ever be in a situation where people need to know what is wrong/what you are on/next of kin and you are unable to tell them. for example some people who have psychotic episodes can't give this kind of info when they are in a episode.
i used to have a medic alert for medical conds, but now i can't afford the membership.
Vetty if you still have the medic alert bracelet then you can continue to wear it without paying the membership. I work in the emergency medicine setting and to be perfectly honest we only ever read what the bracelet says and never ring the number.
As for wearing one for mental health problems that seems a little ridiculous. sorry
I would say that, yeah, Medic Alert is an expensive thing to join. I wear a medic alert bracelet to inform people of my diabetes and a couple of drug allergies. I'd never put my MH conditions on it, if people were to ring the number, then they could be informed of them. I think that MH conditions/medications rarely effect treatments used in emergency medicine, so it seems a bit over cautious to me.
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Make us all feel wonderful. We'll never forget."
if you have severe MI are prone to OD, manics, psycotic episodes, have a severe ED or something would it not be useful for the emergancy services to know about it?
^^ is also where i was coming from. i have been in hospital with people who, if they were out, would be totally unable to tell people who they are, or what is wrong, what meds they are on, who there next of kin is etc. cos psychosis/mania etc can also be symptons of some acute illnesses, surely it would be good that the professionals can rule that out.
It could also be useful for someone with PTSD or DID type illness where they may not present with an adult state of functioning, especially when severely ill or in shock etc.
Some kind of scheme could also be useful for people who're survivors of certain types of abuse, where sensitivity in certain medical procedures might be prudent to avoid exacerbation of symptoms/flashbacks etc, but that's kind of in a different league, really.
if you have severe MI are prone to OD, manics, psycotic episodes, have a severe ED or something would it not be useful for the emergancy services to know about it?
Thats what I thought. Some antipsychotics can produce nms (very rarely) which requires emergancy treatment, antidepressants can produce seritonin syndrome. etc etc.
I was on the SomthingFishy website the other day, and they said there about wearing one just to mention about an ED.... I can understand why people could wear one - I'd just think 'Im not ill enough to wear one' which is a wonky though of course, but yeah. I mean, ED's can cause so many complications and I think it's a good idea.
As for mental health - more psychological things, I think it depends on what the issue is, but for many it'd be quite a good idea.
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It is not 'ridiculous' in some cases, I dont care if you work in a medical setting, I think thats irresponsible to say that.
I know people who have been GIVEN an alert card made by the hospital to put in their purse for mental health conditions and including a phone number to the mental health team they are under.
In the cases of schizophrenia, manic depression, psychosis and dissociative identity disorder- in fact anything that means a person can detach from reality and become lost or unable to communicate it is actually VERY useful. I would imagine someone with althziemers disease would be advised to carry one if they are at risk of getting lost and wandering off.
Also, it helps the police if they find a person acting strangely or aggressively and think its alcohol, they are not as likely to call for medical help as if they knew it was mental ill health they would have to. Its incredibly distressing to be arrested and bundled into a van when really you need to be in a hospital with treatment.
Last edited by MissAnonymous : 09-01-2010 at 02:26 PM.
It could also be useful for someone with PTSD or DID type illness where they may not present with an adult state of functioning, especially when severely ill or in shock etc.
Some kind of scheme could also be useful for people who're survivors of certain types of abuse, where sensitivity in certain medical procedures might be prudent to avoid exacerbation of symptoms/flashbacks etc, but that's kind of in a different league, really.
I think thats a very valid point... i had to go to hosp after an od i'd dissociated for 3 hours which was when i took it... i was assaulted on the same day... and was bleeding badly from sensitive areas.. due to the od id taken they had to try and control the blood flow as it was an hour journey at rush hour to the hosp so they actually tried to remove clothing... both were male and i completely freaked out which put my health in jeopardy i wound up being strapped to the trolly thing which made it worse as i need to have freedom of my hands... but ofcourse they didnt know of my ptsd... Also similar incident whilst i was in hospital when i flashbacked... nurses told me to stop being silly and got annoyed at the mess id made... i couldnt defend myself because of how high my fear was but if they'd known it might have been more useful. Likewise my anxiety can cause my bloodpressure to reach to dangerous levels so if they knew that they could keep an eye on that. So i may actually invest in one of them.... i think thats a valid point i wouldnt have thought of that alone.
"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit"
-J.R.R Tolkien
It is not irresponsible to say. It is my opinion and I know the opinion of many of other health workers.
Medic alerts are there for conditions which are life threatning such as Diabetes, severe allergies, heart failure, people whom have pacemakers or other implants, epilepsy, asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, strokes, cardiac arrythmias the list goes on.
Yes ok mental health problems can be life threatning too i dont disagree with that but i dont think wearing a medic alert for MH is warranted. If someone is behaving strangely we would pick them up anyway and take them to the hospital and it usually after 5 or so minutes with a patient it becomes clear that their problems are mental health related whether it be an OD, dissociation, mania, severe depression. Having a card in your wallet is a better idea. I wear a medic alert for health problems but i havent included my mental health problems.
When you wear a medic alert you will find alot of people even strangers will ask what it is for and would you really feel comfortable explaining your mental health to them?
Domino effect If you are a mental health patient when you become a patient in a general hospital they should send a psych liaison staff member either a nurse or a dr. to come and asses you. Then they should talk to the other nurses treating you to make sure all your mental health needs and issues are being respected and followed. Have they never done that?
And yes mental health conditions or any psych meds do not alter the treatment descisions in the emergency setting.
Domino effect If you are a mental health patient when you become a patient in a general hospital they should send a psych liaison staff member either a nurse or a dr. to come and asses you. Then they should talk to the other nurses treating you to make sure all your mental health needs and issues are being respected and followed. Have they never done that?
No but then again im 16... and under camhs it was a friday afternoon/ evening and all the camhs people had gone home and closed for the weekend. I had to wait until the monday to be seen by anyone. My mum was waiting in a+e for when i got there and i was hugely agitated and distressed... she said i need to be seen but they said they couldnt do that as they wouldnt see me. I mean there was a load of confusion as to where i should go.. first it was kids peds and then i was moved to AAU.
At the time my mum didnt know of my ptsd/ dissociation as she knew nothing of what had happened to cause it so i couldnt tell them while she was there.. i was pretty much ignored anyway so whenever i tried explaining myself or something there wasnt much patience. I was made to repeat what had happened to me that day many times in an open ward with no privacy so... my rights as a victim of assault there wasnt respected. I was neglected on quite a few levels and i can understand why but my stay was rather traumatic in itself but i stopped my parents and gp from complaining as at the end of it they did save my life.
"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit"
-J.R.R Tolkien
ok, I HAVE to wear one due to medical things. And believe me, if you dont HAVE to have one, dont get one. There a pain in the ass to have. If you get a necklace, you cant wear any other necklace as it gets tangled up. If you have a braclet the chunky bit were the info goes bang on the desk all the time while your trying to type.
I really dont see much point (except in extrmeme circumstances) for people with MH problems to have them. The ONLY time they are checked are by emergency staff and they only really notice them if they have a severely ill patient with them. And by that I mean the patient unable to give any sign of what is wrong. No speech, no eye contact, no hand movements. And again there used if the patient is in danger for example, cant breathe, arresting etc.
If you are really concerned that you need to get this information across and you would be physically unable to get it across and unlikley to have anyone with you who can explain then I suggest you do 2 things. First off store the number of someone who knows the situation un your phone under ICE (in case of emergency) and second, write it out bullet points of what you think they need to know on a piece of neon card and put it in your purse or something.
With MH, if you miss your meds or something yeah you may feel ill, but its unlikely to be life threatening unlike some physical meds. Sure someone mentioned things like serotoinin sydrome, but if you have this, chances are you will be able to give some sort of history plus blood tests which can be back within 10mins can show it and this disorder is unlikely to kill you in that time frame.
Really, having mental health problems does suck, but go for the least restrictive methods you can to maintain as near normal a life as you can.
Thank you bitter angel! You said exactly what i was trying to say but in a much more articulate manner.
I hate wearing my Medic alert..... and yes patients with serotonin syndrome usually can still communicate... I have had it twice! It takes hours for the symptoms to develop and its the same with NMS.
We never really look at a medic alert unless a patient is unconcious and basically very seriously ill. Then if we look at the bracelet and see oh this patient is diabetic it helps us out.....however a thourough assesment of the patient usually takes priority over looking at a medic alert bracelet in all honesty.
