In Case of Emergency: Unleash the Power in Your Pocket
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Here are 4 tips to set up your smartphone so you’re prepared if you, or your child, need to go to the ER:
Medical ID
On Apple phones, under Settings, you can enter important data, such as your blood type, medications, allergies, reactions, weight, and emergency contact. When you use Emergency SOS to call emergency services, it also sends a message to your emergency contacts with your current location and a mobile number. For other smartphones, there are Medical ID apps you can download.
It is reassuring to know that, as long as there is a phone nearby, a parent can be alerted of a crisis and the medical information needed is right at hand.
2. Medical articles about your rare disease
Because it is unlikely that the doctors or nurses in the ER may have any experience with a rare condition, it is helpful to have, as a reference, links to articles from respected medical journals.
Guidance on the use of anesthesia:
3. Keep a friend on call to listen in
In case of an emergency with you or your child, you might find it difficult to focus on what the doctors are saying. Use your phone to call a friend or a trusted family member to listen in to ensure you do not lose any important information.
4. Keep your patient log in on hand to your medical center’s portal
Keep your ID and password in the Notes on your smartphone, so you have it on hand to quickly access your medical records. In doing so, doctors will have all they need to know when they treat you. If you have forgotten your password, you can usually go on the medical website to create a new one.
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Nina Wachsman
Nina is the co-founder and president of Know Rare
Nina’s experience goes across therapeutic categories from rare disease like pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), autoimmune disease and cancer, and her expertise ranges from market research and strategy to patient and digital marketing.
Additionally, she has been a founder and angel investor of a biotech start-up, helped brand an oncology patient organization, Aim at Melanoma, and worked on patient education for Genentech’s leading HER2 therapy, Herceptin.
Nina is also a mother, grandmother, artist, and author of The Gallery of Beauties, a novel set in the Venice in the early 17th century.