Lately it seems I've been doing more activities where I don't have my wallet, or any form of ID, on my person so I've been thinking about getting a Road ID. I figure if I do get into an accident or other medical emergency when I don't have ID on me (like cycle commuting or running) that having some form of identification would be an asset; if for no other reason than to ensure my family was notified promptly.

Specifically I'm looking at non-interactive version of their Fixx ID. This is a dog-tag like product that allows you to have 7 lines of text, with 25 characters per line.

That said, I thought I'd look for a bit of advice on what exactly I'd include on this. After reading through the suggestions on the Road ID site, I've come up with something like this (not my info, obviously):

STEVEN HAUSER
SAN JUAN, CA USA
HOME 408-555-5555
WIFE 408-444-4444 CELL
DATE OF BIRTH 2 JAN 1971
BLOOD TYPE B NEGATIVE
NKA - NKDA - NO MED HX

Any thoughts on anything that I'm missing or that would be better to include that what I've got right now?

Also, I am unsure about that last line. Basically, I don't have any allergies (drug or otherwise) other than normal seasonal stuff and don't have any real medical issues that should impact any treatment. Is this an okay way to convey that, or would it be clearer some other way?

I wear a stainless dog tag I had made at a local surplus/outdoors store. Have been wearing such a tag for probably 20 years now. (had to get a new one when my area code changed)

Have on it: name, SSN, home phone # and NO DRUG ALLERGY.

The clinic couldn't trust your blood typing info.

I figure the SSN and phone is sufficient to find everything else responders might need.(including hospital records for relevent medical stuff???)

Denis I worked in EMS for a few years. Good on you for thinking ahead to provide some critical info if you're out cold.

The following could be condensed to give you more text characters to work with if desired:

- "HOME" and "CELL" can be deleted, the phone numbers are good enough. "408-555-5555,408-444-4444" fits on 1 line of 25 characters.

- "DATE OF BIRTH" can be deleted, if I see "2 Jan 1971" I know its a DOB. If your name was short enough, you could tack on the DOB in the same line: "JOHN SMITH 2/1/1971"

- "BLOOD TYPE" can be deleted, if I see "B NEGATIVE" I know its a blood type, not a personal attitude (ha!). Besides, the hospital won't make a treatment decision based on your stated type; they will type and crossmatch to be sure since the consequences of a mistake are great. If time is tight and there's any question you'd get Type O.

Your NKA/NKDA line is good, not much other way to convey that.

If you were in the US I'd also say take your medical insurance card with you, but I don't know if you Canucks carry those. Dunno if Canada uses the equivalent of a SSN/National ID number but there are security issues with having that on the tag.

I think a standard Medical Alert dog tag or bracelet would take care of that. First responders look for them. I have never been a fan of putting my SSAN on anything.

I think a standard Medical Alert dog tag or bracelet would take care of that. First responders look for them. I have never been a fan of putting my SSAN on anything.

Luckily, I am a B positive, and that fairly often describes my personal attitude as well...

Agree w/ the prior posters. Former EMS here too

Name, DOB, your version of SSN. point of contact (do you have the ICE concept up there?). Everything else is gravy.

I'd put pertinent medication/medical history in lieu of blood type or address. NKDA is fine, don't need NKA (no one really cares if you have allergies to strawberries or bermuda grass). But something like you're on coumadin or humira? You're G6PD negative? Absolutely good idea.

Skip any surgeries - most of us can read the operations by looking at your scars, and in reality it's not going to help if we scrape you off the road.

I have a RoadID. Mine looks like this:

Chaos M. Agnet
Town, ST USA
Wife +1(555)555-5555
Medical History
No Known Allergies
Swim, Bike, Run, Beer!

With regard to DOB and SSN, I believe that I'm more at risk from identity theft than I am from a medical provider making some kind of poor treatment decision based on not knowing my SSN or DOB. I happen to know that I'm the only Chaos M. Agnet (or for that matter Chaos Agnet) living in Town, ST. Your medical history or other situation may be different from mine. I would have omitted my last line if I'd had more pertinent information to include.

Here in Canada, asking for a SIN (Social Insurance Number - equal to a US SSN) is unheard of. Up here, I have only ever been asked for my medical card number which is dependent on what province you live in.

If you are allergic, you should be wearing a medical alert bracelet and that to me raises the question; Does any SAR person or 1st Responder really care what your name is (other then to quickly and positively identify you as the right person) and need to know where you are from? I would think that they don't and I seen in an older post here (I think) where such things such ICE in cellphones are not going to be looked at by SAR or a 1st Responder as their primary job is to get you prepped for a possible trip to the hospital.

I would like to hear from any current or former SAR or 1st Responders on this. I will also ask the next time I talk with any local SAR here.

Prior to developing the back problems attendant to age/ accident, I was an active outdoor jogger. I was also a well experienced urban volunteer EMT, aware of the not-for-profit Medic Alert Foundation. In order to establish my identity, give my medical history and enable my family to be notified in case of my injury or death, while out jogging without ID, I ordered a Medic Alert neck medallion. Bracelets are also available.

The medallion has room for my name, home phone number, blood type,basic medical info/ allergies and religion. More importantly, each medallion contains a serial number and a toll free phone number. Hospitals and police know to call, give the serial number and receive the detailed notification and medical information you have previously registered. A life membership brings the right to free annual updates and a more detailed wallet card, which also can be updated.

I still wear mine, just in case. Usual disclaimers. I'm only a satisfied customer.

On reflection, I'm sure you could find some outit that has a thumb drive with emergency info in an armored neck or wrist medallion. Updates might be available as well.

I have a Road ID attached to my BSB, so it doubles as the scraper/striker. The info I had put on the ID was name/phone number/spouse phone numbers. It makes my wife feel better that I can be identified if found unconscious or dead during my numerous hikes and trail runs.

Would a hospital check a thumb drive if you were brought in unconcious? Or, would they rely only on written information? I'm thinking that the hospital IT department would be reluctant to allow plugging in an unknown drive into a networked computer.

Looks like the tag has all the information I'd care about most from the hospital side of things. Having name/date of birth is very helpful since it lets me pull your medical record if you've been seen at our facility before. One thought is to have a secondary contact in case your wife is unavailable.

Mark, if I had a patient who can't answer questions but had a thumb drive that looked like it contained medical information, I'd plug it in. I wouldn't tell IT though!

I thought dog tags once carried religion as well, in case last rites were required urgently?

Mine,circa 1960, did - still does and I will put them on occasionally in dicey situations.

From what I've seen, no USB drives allowed in hospital computers(data mining, virus concerns, etc). I know my computer won't even recognize a USB drive if I want to save something to it.

Regarding name, yes, it helps. They can pull up your medical record if you're at the same hospital, police can pull your ID (which has address, which typically has next of kin living there).

If you don't use the SIN up there for medical records, having your health insurance ID would be a legit alternative.

I have one of these:
diamond Edge Dog Tag

It is a good cutting edge for hard materials. It is stainless steel, and I recommend covering the edges with a dog tag silencer (the rubber ring that goes around the edges of a dog tag).

I have another one that is black ceramic that has a very sharp cutting knife edge. I can't find it on the internet (so no link), but I can get them locally. It also need to be covered for wearing it. These need engraving rather that the normal stamping used for regular dog tags.

Just handy to have additional tools if needed.

Lighter weight, more decorative: safety tattoo

There have been a lot of good responses so far, thanks!

As some have already mentioned, our SIN isn't really used for much up here, but our provincial health number would be important in a medical emergency; I definitely think that would be worth including.

Some have mentioned MedicAlert which I do think is a good system. I have one for my son who is a type 1 diabetic and also has several drug allergies. For myself however, I don't think its a good fit since I don't really have any medical issues. Another alternative to the MedicAlert system (and a little cheaper) is Road ID's interactive service. This also provides a 1-800 number & an online portal that can provide expanded medical & contact information. But again, I don't feel it fits my particular needs.

Regarding whether a first responder cares about by name & contact info, I'd guess they might not. But the main idea in my mind is that if I were incapacitated those further down the line would be able to contact my family.

Glock-A-Roo, you mentioned some good tips for condensing the info; I think the approach I am taking is to be as verbose as possible, while including all the info I can think of that might be helpful. In my v.2 of the info, I've used some of your ideas and can condense further if I decide on more info to include.

So, now I'm thinking my template for a Fixx ID would be:

STEVEN TODD HAUSER
CITY, AB CANADA
HOME 403-555-5555
WIFE 403-555-5555 CELL
AB PHN 12345-6789
DOB 2 JAN 1971 / B NEG
NKA / NKDA / NO MED HX