Day 109 – Life Saver – Medical Alert Bracelet

Medical Alert bracelets can be life savers for people with AS.

I hadn’t really thought much about having one until my Rheumatologist asked me at my last visit if I had a Medical Alert bracelet. Uugh. I would like to completely ignore this topic not only out of vanity but also due to silly personal denial.  That’s a crazy part of living with a chronic illness – if you don’t tell anyone what you are dealing with you can pretend that you are fine.  A medical alert bracelet does its job quite well. Its purpose is to ALERT people so, people notice – so much for pretending once I take this step. I will buy a medi-alert of some type and I urge my fellow AS’ers to do the same because here are the facts from the Spondylitis Association of America.

“Emergency First Responders called to care for a patient with ankylosing spondylitis must remember that their patient’s spine may be inflexible and traditional protocols for emergency care may do more harm than good. Since the fused spine of an AS patient can be extremely fragile and may fracture easily with even minor trauma, the following EMS techniques must be modified to accommodate patients with AS, including:

  • Transport Considerations
  • Cervical Collar Use
  • Airway Management
  • CPR

It has been reported in the medical literature that there is an estimated 35% to 58% mortality rate in people with AS following a spinal fracture, and additionally, that AS patients are at high risk for serious spinal injury and increased neurological complications even in the event of minor trauma.”

So, I guess I’ll be thinking about the idea of the Life Saver – the Medical Alert Bracelet.  And looking for just the right one for me 🙂

Until tomorrow.

Jenna

Day 109 was created in graphite and watercolor.

Also – please remember to check out the Guest Apples tab at the top of the page.  I posted two today made by Anna West and I’ll be posting one by Grace McKee tomorrow!