(Note: This post has nothing to do with actual dogs.)

I was issued a set of US military dog tags when I went into the reserves near 20 years ago, and have kept them around my neck even though I got out in 1999. Why? Because - let's be honest here - I'm cheap; and free is cheaper than 20 bucks for some medical alert tag that says pretty much the same things. And even with all of the named things in my wallet, and my nifty smart phone and all that, having something as simple as a dog tag to ID me in case I can't, is comforting.

But after two decades the medical tag is no longer red, and the other things round my neck, such as the whistle and P-38 can opener, have worn down the letters on the tags. Not unreadable mind you, but they are starting to wear.

So I am looking to replace them with new dog tags. Which got me online and... got me to thinking: The information on the current tags is what the military needs. Is it what I need if, say, I was mugged and left unconscious on a city street? Injured on a car wreck and unable to communicate? Or, worse...

No, it isn't. So after some "what if" thinking, here is what I came up with:

Line 1: Last name

No brainer here.

Line 2: First name, middle initial

Again, no brainer. (But for a southerner like me, it's first initial, middle name).

Line 3: USA and zip code

If I am outside of the country (which I am occasionally), someone will know which consul to contact in an emergency, and the zip code can tell someone inside the country where I'm from, too.

Line 4: Date of birth (000000) and blood type

Seems to be SOP background information. I know my blood type from my military file and tags.

Line 5: Emergency contact number (000.000.0000)

Someone needs to know what happened to me.

Note some things I didn't include. The SSN serial number is gone - I've always been a bit uneasy with that, anyway. For space reasons I didn't include religious affiliation - though I think some kind of abbreviation could be added. Maybe drop the USA and add it there?

On the medical tag I will be replacing the SSN serial number with my blood type and date of birth. Maybe religious affiliation, too. Just in case.

Other than that, I wanted to put all this to the ETS community for y'all's comments, insights, thoughts, feedback, criticisms, complaints, accolades, praise, etc., etc.

Thanks.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)

all good except for blood type. Blood type (A/B/O) tells something about the transfusion you will need, but not nearly enough to be useful. Nobody will base a transfusion decision on your dogtag. There are dozens of other antigens that need to be cross matched with a unit of blood before it can be safely transfused into you. So the blood bank will actually mix a sample of your blood and the new unit of blood to make sure that there is compatibility. In the meantime , the traumatologists will infuse saline, another plasma volume expander or low titer O universal donor blood until the cross-matched units are available. Use the space for more useful info, like your religion, medical insurance id mumber, or astrological sign.

The thing about blood type is that no US medical facility will give you blood based on a tag, a tatoo or a patch on a uniform. You get typed and cross matched or you get O- if there is no time. I was an Army medic. Soldiers put their blood type on things for style points.
I still wear my tag because it has my name on it. I figure that is all anyone would need to eventualy figure out who I am.
Medical people will however honor an alergy tag.
leo

As others have said - blood type is no medical use anywhere that you would want a transfusion!

Any serious medical allergies, eg. penicillin would be better

Yes, that's what I was going to say. It may help for the medical people to know that you have insurance.

I'm thinking about updating my medical card. Do you guys know of a good template online that I can download?

They asked me what religion I wanted on my dogtags in boot camp. They refused to put "Rastafarian" on there even though I thought that would seem funny on a dogtag.

contact number of primary care doctor... mine keeps a copy of all my medical records except dental

Using crystalloid (Normal Saline or Lactated Ringers) is now out of date. It was hazardous because it diluted clotting factors.

The preferred trauma blood volume products is packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, preferably 1:1. Factor 7 is also thrown in as well.

Conway Yee

My dog tags are older than your dog tags! They are still useful, but your cell phone probably has more currently relevant information - ICE data would be useful, but that changes from time to time.

I still wear dog tags. And a wrist bracelet made for me by the MONROE SPECIALTY COMPANY in Monroe wisconsin. It had dog tag info, plus physical description, allergies, SSN and DL.