Why didn’t some Israeli think of this before?” would be the natural reaction to
hearing about medical ID bracelets that identify conditions, allergies and other
vital information when an unidentified person suffers a health emergency. It’s
quite amazing that until only a few weeks ago, such a service was unavailable in
a country with such high-level medical expertise and a love for innovation. As
medical bracelets are available in many countries around the world, why did the
idea take so long to arrive here? “Any medical information can be potentially
lifesaving when faced with an unconscious patient,” commented Dr.
Nahum
Kovalski, deputy vice president and chief information officer of the Terem chain
of urgent medical care. “For example, knowing which medications a patient is
allergic to can be essential to the success of any treatment. In addition,
knowing that a patient is diabetic may save critical seconds before starting
appropriate care.”
A possible reason why such an idea has not been
implemented before, he suggested, is that “getting Israelis to pay for this will
not be easy, and the ones who need it the most will most likely not buy
it.”
United Hatzalah of Israel (UH), whose volunteers on ambucycles often
reach an unconscious victim first, also endorsed the idea of medical ID
bracelets worn by patients who might need immediately help.
“We often get
to scenes of unconscious individuals – whether it be in a car accident, a sudden
collapse on the street or deterioration at a person’s home – and there is no one
available or knowledgeable about the patient’s underlying medical condition,”
said Eli Beer, founder and president of UH. “As first responders, our volunteers
are always looking for ways to shave valuable seconds off response times. Any
more information that we can immediately glean on-scene will help us treat the
patient even more quickly and effectively and will help us save more lives in
Israel.”
Dr. Aziz Darawsha, chairman of the department of emergency
medicine at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem and
president of the Israel Association of Emergency Medicine, added that medical ID
bracelets have existed around the world for two decades, but unfortunately, “it
was not [available in Israel] until now, despite its importance. In certain
cases, they can save lives. The technology is important, especially for patients
with diabetes, heart disease, certain sensitivities and other problems so that
treatment is given as needed.”
“I suppose it was just waiting for us to
do it,” explained Juliet Mandelzweig, joint general manager and co-owner of the
MediTag company along with her partners Sara Kushelevich and Michal
Adlersberg.
“There is a very real need for this, with a huge life saving
potential for anyone with allergies, chronic diseases, medications and so on,”
Mandelzweig told The Jerusalem Post in an interview. She has received estimates
that there are 1.5 million Israelis with conditions who require quick
identification.
Another Israeli company offered medical ID bracelets
about a quarter of a century ago, but for some reason, it disbanded.
The
partners pounced on the idea when Mandelzweig – who was born in South Africa and
became asthmatic and diabetic, was terrified that “I might suddenly pass out,
and nobody would know how to help me.” Then, four years ago, the Petah Tikva
resident was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack that gave the idea
a push.
“I remembered medical ID bracelets from South Africa. It’s not a
new invention, but this is the only one in the Israeli market.”
The
partners set up a company based in Rosh Ha’ayin after discussing the idea with
patient groups, urgent care specialists in hospital emergency rooms, Magen David
Adom and others. A manufacturer was located in China to make the bracelets in 40
designs, with a company insignia. Engravers who could produce identification on
the inside of the bracelet in Hebrew and/or English (inside for privacy) were
hired, and a website was constructed.
The Israel Medical Association was
informed by the new company of its life saving product. Prof. Shmuel Kviti,
chief of allergy and clinical immunology at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center,
was “ecstatic” when he learned of the product, the coowner said. “He is handing
flyers out to our patients.” In addition, the heads of Sourasky’s endocrinology
department who worry about insulin-dependent diabetics they treat have endorsed
it.
PEOPLE WHO learned of the new service asked: “Where have you been all
this time?” “We expect that people who travel a lot would prefer to have the
identification in English more than in Hebrew, but the engraving could have both
languages,” said Mandelzweig. “We expect in the future to incorporate a USB
device for storage of data and then maybe a computer chip implanted in the
bracelet, but we felt it was more important to start with the company emblem in
red and the vital information inside the bracelet.
Not everybody who
witnesses someone’s collapse or injury is hi-tech enough to read a USB or chip
with a scanner using a smartphone. Or they may not have a smartphone at all,”
she added.
If an Alzheimer’s patient gets lost and is found wandering in
the street, a passerby can look at the bracelet and immediately identify the
person and the problem, said Mandelzweig, who recommends that Alzheimer’s
patients have silicon bracelets that could be worn all the time and not suffer
water damage. An ID that is never taken off would help medical or police
personnel identify a dementia patient. It would also benefit people who lost
their ability to speak and organ transplant recipients.
She told the
story of a man whose heart is on his right side due to a defect rather than on
the left. “Can you imagine a medic using a stethoscope on his chest to listen to
his heartbeat and doesn’t find it?” the company co-owner suggested.
“He
would be confused. If he had a medical ID bracelet, information on his heart
could be read immediately. We encourage customers to consult their doctors
before deciding what to have engraved on their bracelets.” There are also people
who had their blood type etched on the bracelet in case of
emergency.
Mandelzweig, who works in “body-focused psychotherapy” and has
two adult children, recalled the tragic fatal case over a year ago when a young
woman with a nut allergy went to a Tel Aviv cafe and grilled the waitress about
whether the Belgian waffles she ordered contained nuts. Mistakenly assured that
they did not (the syrup in fact contained a nut spread), the young woman
immediately lost consciousness after ingesting them. “Nobody knew that her
Epipen [an epinephrine auto-injector used to deliver a measured dose to treatment
acute allergic reactions to avoid or treat the onset of anaphylactic shock] was
in her handbag,” she said. If the allergic woman had a MediTag on her wrist,
people could have helped her immediately and saved her life.”
Other types
of people who would benefit include people with allergies to milk or drugs like
penicillin, nuts, latex and other substances, or epileptics who might suddenly
have an attack. A medical professional could give help immediately without
wasting time. People who take blood thinners to prevent heart attacks or strokes
and who suffer from hemorrhages because they didn’t take the right dose should
wear the bracelets so action can be taken immediately to prevent them from
bleeding to death.
“I run for exercise,” said
Mandelzweig.
“Athletes and hikers abroad might pass out in a foreign
country, and nobody would know who you are. There are also non-medical uses. One
family was taken their young children to England and ordered bracelets for them
to wear in case they got lost.”
THE BANDS are made from a variety of
materials, but the rectangular plate on which the engraving is done is made from
stainless steel, which does not cause allergic reactions. Mandelzweig noted that
the bracelets range in price from NIS 167 to NIS 230 and are made for everyday
or dressy use. Some are made from silicon in attention-getting colors such as
pink or orange, while others are made in brown leather or in black silicon like
a watch. There are models for children (diabetics or with other medical problems
that could need immediate attention).
There are also floral designs and
bracelets with semi-precious stones.
Patients’ groups, she said, have
arranged for discounts for their members who want the bracelets.
MediTag
hasn’t yet bought advertising space, but it hopes to put ads on the radio and TV
and the print media or the Internet so the public will become aware of
it.
“There is no doubt that the medical ID bracelet will save lives, just
as it has abroad in many cases. It means that no time will be wasted in the
saving of lives,” she said.
“The sky is the limit in applications. We are
at beginning of road. We are thinking of a bar code etched on the bracelet, in
addition to the USB. We have thought of making fashionable necklaces as well; it
depends on what the public want.”
It hurts to think of people who have
died, or Alzheimer’s patients who have lain in hospital beds for days because no
one knew whom to call, she concluded.
“MediTag was set up as a business,
but we also regard it as a mission, a mitzva,” she concludes. So far, our phone
line is flooded, and we have only started. Doctors and rescuers have welcomed us
with open arms.”
|