A SAMPLE of the Smart Med Card

Today, I thought it would be fun to teach you how The Smart Med Card works when an EMT is called to a medical patient's house. We'll keep things simple, as though the patient is coherent, breathing normally and complaining of nothing more than a stomach ache.
When the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System is activated for the medical patient with the upset stomach, the EMTs who arrive will generate, from the moment they first see the patient, a Primary Assessment in which they will make decisions of what kind of transport priority the patient is (immediate/non-immediate) and what kind of life-saving interventions (oxygen, bleeding control, airway corrections...etc) will be needed at this moment. Since the EMT was called out due to a stomach ache and no other outward signs point to any-other complications, the EMTs will then handle a focused exam. By remembering their mnemonic SAMPLE, the EMT will begin the assessment. Now would be the time to present the EMTs with The Smart Med Card. What SAMPLE relates to is:

• Signs and Symptoms
• Allergies
• Medications
• Past Patient Histroy
• Last Oral Intake
• Events Leading to Present Illness

From here, the EMT will handle vital-signs, reassess transport priority and continue an ongoing assessment. And that's a simple scenario of an EMS call!

By having this information handy you make the EMT's ability to handle the focused exam much easier and could perhaps, based on your past, present trends and possible related complications that could be more serious than just a stomach ache.

The Smart Med Card is an indispensable tool for both you and EMTs. Illnesses don't discriminate between age, sex and race. We are all susceptible to, at some-point in our lives, a reason to activate the EMS sytem. Be sure to have what you need - your life could depend on the ability of your care providers to properly connect the dots. That's what they're trained for!

Take a trip over to The Smart Med Card and start preparing your medical history today. Remember, if you take any medication - you do have a medical history!