There have been some recent
incidents throughout the Known
World as well as within our shire that have shown that there are times
when access to medical information about gentles attending Society
events
would have been most advantageous. Let me first say that the Society is
in no way going to restrict anyone from participating in Society events
due to a medical condition. However, for safety reasons, there should
be
a way to notify the chirurgeon or other rescuers that you have a
significant
medical condition in the event that you were incapacitated and unable
to
tell them yourself. This information could make a life-and-death
difference
in your treatment.
Minimum information that should be readily
available
is: mundane name; medical conditions; name, dosage and frequency of
medications;,
and an emergency contact. In the category of nice-to-know: home address
and phone; private physician name, address and phone; and medical
insurance
information (in case emergency transfer is necessary).
The best method to communicate this
information would
be in written form kept somewhere on your person. Examples are a medic
alert tag, medical ID card, or a slip of paper that contains the basic
information. Less desirable is having someone on-site that is familiar
with your condition. (This is not as good because Murphy says that as
soon
as that person leaves your side, you will become incapacitated.)
Advising
the Marshal or Chirurgeon can help, but at large events it is hard to
keep
track of many people and their problems..
Major accidents and injuries are
thankfully infrequent
at SCA events, however, by helping those who seek to help you by
providing
this basic medical information, we can minimize the effect of the
problems
that do occur.
Update Aug 2015:
Francis du Chalfont writes:
Team Medical Dragon has implemented a voluntary system for anime and
gaming conventions but it requires access to a laminator. The form is
blaze orange with a SoL on the outside. The information is
written on the form, which is then folded and laminated for security.
In the event an attendee requires medical attention and is not
coherent, the form can be easily opened with EMS shears and the
information retrieved. A similar form is available for furry
conventions to alert rescuers to zipper placement. Something that
might be modified for fighters and their armor.
© 2015 Galen of Ockham (MKA
Keith E. Brandt, M.D.) May be used in SCA pubications as long
as
content is not modified and proper credit given. For all other uses,
please contact the author at galen@chirurgeon.org
.
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