Antonia Sinn is very familiar with the MedicAlert bracelet. The 13-year-old won the MedicAlert Student Design Competition with her “Canadiana” design.
The sporty MedicAlert bracelet depicts a handful of colourful maple leaves and is available for sale online.
“People are always saying how they’re proud to be Canadian and I wanted something everyone could relate to,” says Sinn. “And the maple leaf is on the Canada flag so I decided to make that the main focus of my design.”
In a health emergency, a simple bracelet can make a difference between life and death.
That’s what happened to Elizabeth Triggs, an actress from Vancouver, who credits her MedicAlert bracelet for saving her life on a recent flight to Los Angeles.
Triggs has Addison’s disease, a chronic disorder that prevents her adrenal glands from producing enough steroid hormones. The hormonal disorder can lead to low blood pressure, coma and potentially death if not treated properly.
Triggs says she was so grateful that she was wearing her MedicAlert bracelet on a flight to Los Angeles when she started to feel unwell.
“I suddenly felt light headed and like I was going to pass out,” says Triggs.
Triggs fell unconscious but because of her MedicAlert bracelet, a doctor onboard understood her condition and was able to administer medication found in her purse.
“Even though I wasn’t in Canada and I was flying to the States, it was wonderful because they were able to find out exactly what the situation was and act on it,” she says.
A MedicAlert bracelet ensures critical medical information is available to emergency responders in minutes. The bracelet has patients’ health conditions or allergies engraved on the back. It is linked to an electronic-medical record that’s available through a 24/7 hotline.
“Calling the hotline gives a responder access to additional information because the information that can be put on the back of the bracelet is somewhat limited,” says Robert Ridge, president of Canadian Medic Alert Foundation.
MedicAlert bracelets are one of the first things paramedics look for, especially if the patient is confused, unconscious and alone.
“It just kind of gives us a direction in order to understand why what’s happening is happening,” says Mike Bradbrooke, primary care paramedic at Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS). “It allows us to kind of change our focus so we can better treat the patient.
Paramedics also advise individuals with a medical condition to post a medical information sheet on their fridge and to carry a copy along with a list of medications in their wallet.
“In case you’re unconscious and there’s no family member there or if you live alone that way we know kind of what we’re dealing with,” says Bradbrooke. “Then we don’t have to spend a good amount of time trying to find medications around the house and trying to piece it together.”
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