Finding the Right Medical Identification Tag

09/11/08 General

I do not wear any medical identification tags that indicate I have type 1 diabetes. In the past I have worn a bracelet and necklace, but somewhere along the way I stopped wearing them. I may have a card in my wallet still, but I certainly cannot expect an EMT to find it amidst my library, movie rental, insurance, and gift cards.

I hated my first ID bracelet, with its 3-D like caduceus blazing red across my wrist and "Diabetes, Type 1" etched on the inside. However, I think that hatred had more to do with actually having to wear such an identifier than the actual aesthetics.

I moved onto a nicer bracelet, one with a smooth and curved face without red highlight. The jewelry was heavy though, and just that, jewelry. In my teens, that lost appeal quickly.

My last adornment was a necklace. I liked the invisibility, but hated how the medallion stuck to my chest, and how the chain was excessively long. It too went into the recesses of my desk drawer, where for all I know, the entire lot still lurks.

Today, I feel some guilt when I see commercials for medical alert jewelry or when I see someone wearing one. I have searched online and have found some trendy, some athletic, and some offbeat variations on the traditional medical alert jewelry. Yet I still have not purchased. Why?

I have read that EMT's don't necessarily notice or pay attention to any bracelets. Their first focus is on the chest and heart. The necklace then makes sense, but it can often slide away from visibility, or like much of the more hip options, may be mistaken for simple jewelry and nothing of medical import. Why then should I invest in a false sense of security?

Even still, I think the issue is more than not wanting to waste my money. Once someone notices the identification then I am labeled. I know I will feel just as I did when I was 12, trying to make sure the bright red emblem stayed tucked to the underside of my wrist. As an adult, though, I know I should embrace it and proudly wear some symbolic admission to this disease, for medical purposes or not.

This is why I have been paying close attention to a recent development: the tattoo identification. Some people with diabetes and other conditions have the caduceus tattooed on the inside of the wrist, along with the condition from which they suffer. A tattoo can never be lost, and will most likely catch the attention of the medical personnel attending to you. Of course, it is permanent, and being such, is a commitment to embracing such an identity.

I don't know if I could handle that. Then again, tattoos don't necessarily have to last forever, and quite possibly, neither does this disease. I will gladly identify myself with a cure whenever it becomes available.

Eric Devine, 30, has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was 12. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters where he works as a high school English teacher. Devine is an avid writer and is currently seeking publication of two Young Adult novel manuscripts.