Let me chime in on this subject, and as a geek with a lot of love of technology, I'll suggest that a flash drive is NOT the first choice I'd make. I'd go with a CD or DVD ROM, or a small USB magnetic drive.

Also, as I've said before, until there's such a thing as a notarized computer storage device, you're not saving much time.

Finally, the whole "medical history on a key drive" fantasy, as pointed out, is just never going to happen in real life. I'm in "pre-pre-hospital care" (I stop the bleeding, try to keep you breathing and cut you out of the car wreck, I don't do IV's or anything like that. In all the times I've been to a trauma situation I've never - no not once, never, no never ever ever - seen an ambulance crew that even COULD plug in a keychain drive to anything (only the cops have computers and the USB ports on them are shut down except for registered devices). We look for medic-alert bracelets and tattoos, and that's it. Electronic data storage is too fragile, the formats to inconsistent and the security of that data totally impossible to maintain in today's world, and, I suspect it always will be.

Yes, we have a lot of cool technology, but the reality in medical situations is quite different from what you experience in an office.

Here's an example. When I broke my wrist last year, I needed to have the X-Rays from the ER for the osteopath. The ER was 100% digital, my X-Rays were never on film. But when it came time to see the Osteopath, who was affiliated with the hospital where I went to the ER, they had to make a print, and I had to pick up the print and bring it with me.

I even offered them my 2GB keychain drive at the ER and said "Just put the file on here" and they looked at me like I had offered them Anthrax Cola.