Disclaimer: Heartline and MedicAlert contacted me to raise awareness of this project. I have not received any compensation for sharing this post.
February is Heart Month. In the past, I have shared posts to help raise awareness of congenital heart defects, and how they affected day-to-day life for children like Jessica. One of the things that we felt was important was to make sure she had a medical ID bracelet. This helped ensure that others would be aware of her heart condition in an emergency, particularly if we were unable to be with her or able to let others know of her heart condition.
MedicAlert is the only UK charity which provides medical ID services. They have partnered with Heartline Families to provide free MedicAlert membership and £20 jewellery credit, ensuring children with heart conditions are protected in an emergency.
Thanks to a generous grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, Heartline Families are able to sponsor the first year of MedicAlert membership (currently £32 per year) for 247 children. To support this, both Heartline Families and MedicAlert are providing £10 credit each (£20 in total) to be used against the child’s choice of medical ID jewellery.
How does MedicAlert work and why is it so valuable?
As a MedicAlert member, your child’s record will detail their conditions, allergies, medications, history, implants and emergency contacts, as well as any scanned documents that may be useful in an emergency, such as health management plans, Advance Decisions and clinical reports.
Their record will be carefully checked by a Registered Nurse when it is created and every time it is updated. This ensures it is medically sound and optimised for use in emergency situations.
There are over 60 styles of medical ID jewellery available to choose from, each holding the internationally recognised MedicAlert symbol. The medical ID jewellery will be engraved with the most vital medical information, along with MedicAlert’s 24/7 emergency helpline and your child’s unique membership number.
In an emergency, first responders will be alerted to your child’s most vital medical needs via their jewellery. They can then access the full record, if required, via the 24/7 helpline worldwide, in over 100 languages and dialects. This information ensures that care decisions are appropriate, helping to avoid potentially fatal errors or complications and speeding up treatment times.
MedicAlert removes the need to carry information with you at all times, provides you with the peace of mind that your child’s individual needs will be known about when it matters most and that someone will speak for your child if they need it. You cannot be with them at all times, but MedicAlert can.
How to apply
There are only three weeks left to become a MedicAlert member under this scheme. The grant must be used by the end of February! This project is open to all Heartline Families members. The great news is that joining Heartline Families is completely free. Simply email intouch@heartline.org.uk, confirming that you wish to join Heartline Families and that you would like to apply to the MedicAlert Protection Project.
You will receive confirmation of your Heartline Families membership, along with your unique code to be used during checkout at www.medicalert.org.uk and further instructions.
This is a fantastic partnership and something that would have been very useful for us when Jessica was alive. Her ID bracelet came from a different company, so I don’t have any personal experience of MedicAlert. However, the information provided on MedicAlert’s website is more detailed than the information we were given when providing Jessica’s medical details for her medical ID bracelet which I find reassuring.
If you’re a fellow heart parent and looking for medical ID jewellery, this is a great opportunity. You’ll have to be quick to take advantage of it though as the grant is only available until the end of this month.