Medical Information Cards – Part 2: List of Information to Include

Below is a list of suggested Item Headings and Information to include in your Medical Emergency Information Cards and Information Documents:

*  Your name, address, phone number, status: Living alone, single, married, working, retired, living with a roommate, etc. Be sure to give the names of the people you live with and their contact information.

*  Emergency Contacts: Include the relationship i.e. daughter, son, husband, wife, friend, significant other, fiancé, roommate, etc. List all phone number for these people i.e. cell, home, work, etc.

*  Insurance Information: Be sure to type in ONLY the last few digits of your insurance policy number, the name and address of the insurance company and their claims phone number. NEVER include your full social security number, policy numbers, or passwords to your insurance information. If you give that information and your emergency information card is lost or stolen, it could be used by others to use your insurance.

*  Physicians: Include their specialty i.e. primary care, gynecologist, dermatologist, optometrist, surgeon, etc. Give their phone and fax numbers as well as their addresses.

*  Current Medical Issues: Cancer, diabetes, high BP, asthma, psoriasis, MS, thyroid condition, lupus, leukemia, strokes, emphysema, Alzheimer’s, HIV, Aids, Hep C, etc.

*  Surgeries: Include the reason for the surgery, date, where it was performed, and the physician. Also list any complications that may have occurred either before or after the surgery.

*  Current Medications AND Supplements: Over-the-counter vitamins and supplements CAN interact with other medications. IF you end up in the ER or with a doctor NOT familiar with your history and leave this out, it could mean the difference between life and death.

*  Allergies: Airborne, food, animals, latex, medications, vitamins, lotions and any other items that you are have allergic reactions to. If you know it, put down the date when you had your first reaction and/or were diagnosed with this allergy. They may also ask you what your reaction is i.e. a rash (describe), short of breath, hives, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

Implants: Replacement lenses from cataract surgery, hip, knee, heart or other replacement, pins or screws from bone fractures, heart monitor or pacemaker. If you have any type of implant and the doctor gave you the information as to the model number, manufacturer, etc., be sure to add that.

*  Immunizations: Flu, tetanus shot, pneumonia, measles, etc. Be sure to mark down the dates and keep this information up to date.

*  Tests: Blood tests, MRI, CAT Scans, PAP, colonoscopy, dates, doctor, hospital and the reason for the tests.

If you know your blood type, be sure to add it. If you’ve given blood and you have credit for the blood given, be sure to include this in case you ever need blood yourself.

Are you an organ donor?

*  Do you wear glasses or contact lenses or have glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, dry eye, or other eye issues?

*  Do you have a hearing loss or wear a hearing aid?

*  Do you wear dentures?

*  Special Diet Considerations: In case you’re in the hospital be sure to note if you have any food allergies, are diabetic or have digestive issues i.e. Crohn’s disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

*  Family History: Any information a doctor or paramedic should know about i.e. your family has a history of heart disease, diabetes, high BP, asthma, cancer (type), Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, HIV, Aids, etc.

* Other considerations: Be sure to list all other important considerations i.e. prone to seizures, depression, and any and all other issues that can periodically occur.

Keep one set of cards in your wallet, every purse, the glove compartment in your car, on your refrigerator with a magnet in plain sight and in every suitcase when you travel.

Give copies to your family, a neighbor, a close friend, the office of the complex where you live, a coworker and/or your employer. Ask your family to create Emergency Medical Information Cards as well and carry them with them at all times.

I keep a copy of this information printed out and placed in a manila folder on the top of my refrigerator plainly marked in large red letters: MEDICAL INFORMATION FOR ….. (YOUR NAME).

On the refrigerator door I have an 8/12” x 11” page with my picture on it marked, “FOR MEDICAL INFORMATION ON (NAME), PLEASE TAKE THE ENVELOPE ON TOP OF THE REFRIGERATOR.

On that same page, print any other CRITICAL information a paramedic should know immediately

 * Do you live alone?

 * Do you live with husband, wife, son, daughter, caregiver, roommate?

 * Are you living in an assisted living facility? If Yes, give the name of the facility, address, phone numbers and name of people or person to contact.

Last but not least, if you have a relative or are caring for someone with dementia, strokes, Alzheimer’s or other illnesses that have severely impaired them, suggest they have a family member complete this information for them or do it for them yourself.

Not only do these cards come in handy in an emergency, but as a reference for you should you find yourself in the hospital, a doctor’s office or even in an ambulance and need this information. If it’s an emergency situation and you are conscious, you can hand it to the paramedic, doctor, or nurse or tell them where to find it. They can serve as a reminder of things you probably would not have thought of or remembered.

If you’re unable to communicate, chances are an ER doctor or paramedic will check your purse or wallet for identification information and find the card. It’s accurate and contains everything they need to know about you in order to properly treat you.

I hope you never need the Emergency Medical Information Card and Information Documents but I guarantee it, if you put these together, it will give you peace of mind just knowing you have it. If you do need it, it could help save your life.

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If you’re a mystery-suspense novel fan, be sure to stop by this site. I’ll be posting excerpts from some of my books.

Food for thought: “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” (Confucius)

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Thanks for taking time from your busy day to stop by. I hope you enjoy my stories and I hope my tips, tricks, secrets, and shortcuts help you improve your skills and/or work smarter and more efficiently. If you have a question regarding dictation transcription, how to run your own secretarial service from home, or if you have a topic you would like me to write about, just let me know by email at: GSKWAuthor@mindspring.com

Bookmark this site and be sure to check the Schedule of Future Posts and Past Articles Page. The schedule will be updated regularly.

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Medical Emergency Information Cards – Part 1: Instructions

How many times have you been sitting in a new doctor’s office, an emergency room, or a walk-in clinic and had to remember very important information for the endless forms like the one above you have to fill out?

The form asks you for the dates you had your last tetanus or flu shot, PAP test, colonoscopy, mammogram or physical.

They’ll ask you about surgeries you’ve had i.e. date, the name of the doctor, hospital you were in, what the surgery was, where it was performed, any complications, and other details.

Another important question will be about any allergies you may have; food, airborne, or medications of any kind including prescriptions and/or over-the-counter drugs like aspirin. This is especially important if you are allergic to any medications i.e. penicillin.

Could you give the answers ASAP especially if you’re hurt or sick? Chances are your answer is No.

Have you ever been in an emergency situation and been asked for vital information by a doctor or a paramedic?

Have you ever thought about how important certain information concerning your medical history or current medications would be to a paramedic or an ER doctor in an emergency situation especially if you’re unconscious and can’t communicate?

Do you have emergency contact information on you at all times in case you’re unconscious? Even if the paramedics were able to find information and contact your family, would your family member know or could they give all of the information a doctor or paramedic should have to properly treat you i.e. your current medical conditions i.e. diabetes, thyroid condition, high BP, etc.?

Would they know the exact medications AND supplements you currently take, the reason for the medication, the dosage and when you last took it? This information is vital to the doctor, nurse, and/or medic taking care of you. Not having this information could mean the difference between life and death… yours!!!

Instructions for creating the cards

If you have a computer and a printer and I’m assuming you do if you’re reading this post, you can easily create a set of Medical Emergency Information Cards containing this information using reasonably priced business card stock available in most office supply stores. The cards are small yet can contain vital information about you that could save your life in an emergency.

Using Microsoft Word, open the Avery business card layout template. Type in the information suggested below and print the cards. It may take from three to six cards to type in all of the information. Use a size 9 or 10 font. On the first card, you can insert a small headshot picture of yourself to serve as additional identification.

You can type some of information on the first page of ten cards (or more if you need them) then create a second page to add the rest. Print the cards front and back printing page one on the front and page two on the back. Staple them together at the left end. If you need help or have questions setting this up, use the Leave a Reply section below.

Click on the link to go to Part 2 of this article “List of items to be sure to add to your medical emergency cards”.

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Thanks for taking time from your busy day to stop by. I hope you enjoy my stories and I hope my tips, tricks, secrets, and shortcuts help you improve your skills and/or work smarter and more efficiently. If you have a question regarding dictation transcription, how to run your own secretarial service from home, or if you have a topic you would like me to write about, just let me know by email at: GSKWAuthor@mindspring.com

Bookmark this site and be sure to check the Schedule of Future Posts and Past Articles Page. The schedule will be updated regularly.

When you subscribe to my website you will receive occasional email updates and notifications about new articles and short stories, my full novel publication dates, FREE ebook downloads, and future events and contests. Sign up using the Subscribe form below.

Timing your work for billing and/or personal purposes with a computer program.

TIME STAMP – A Computer TIMING pROGRAM

Have you ever had a need to time a job or have your employee(s) or sub-contractor(s) time their work for billing purposes? Have you ever wanted to keep track of the time it takes you to perform a task, type a manuscript or other task? If so, then this tip is for you.

When I started my home-based secretarial services business in January, 1998, I was faced with the dilemma of how to charge for my services. I quickly found that charging everything by the hour was not practical especially when you sub-contract typing and transcription work to others. Some sub-contractors type faster (and more accurately) than others so charging customers and paying sub-contractors using an hourly rate didn’t work.

I knew I had to charge either by-the-typed line or by-the-typed page. But how could I come up with a charge that would result in the hourly rate I wanted for both myself and my sub-contractors. I decided on a per-typed-line rate based on a 12 point Arial font with 1” margins, single spaced.

When you charge the customer by the typed line rate instead of by the page, the customer doesn’t pay for a partial page or for more pages because the document is double-spaced. The customer would pay the same rate whether the page was the standard letter size (8 ½” x 11”), legal size (8 ½” x 14”) or any other size. This is fair to the customer and to the sub-contractors.

The only way I could determine the time it takes to complete each of the different types of jobs I do, typing and transcription work in particular, was to keep track of my time and keep records. But how could I do that efficiently, accurately and fairly?

Searching the internet, I found a small, easy to download and install utility timing program called Time Stamp. Time Stamp has many great features I list at the end of this article.

To find the program, click on this link: (URL) Syntap.

Using Time Stamp to time the typing and/or transcription jobs I was able to determine the time it took to do the job. I timed typing and/or transcription work from handwritten material, documents that contained many strikeouts and handwritten notes, documents that contained tables, financial information, technical terms, etc. I timed transcription from cassette tapes, videos, and digital content based upon the quality of the recording and the quality of the person dictating. I timed transcription from meetings where many people were involved and meetings with questions and answers and many interruptions.

I then counted the number of words typed in the timed job and divided the total minutes by the total number of words. Using this formula I was able to determine a fair rate to charge the customer according to the type of source documentation provided by the customer to be typed or transcribed. I paid my sub-contractors sixty percent of what I charged the customer. This worked out perfectly thanks to Time Stamp.

Many of the jobs I’ve done i.e scanning and converting to text jobs, special formatting, etc. can’t be charged by-the-typed line so I use this program for accurate invoicing of those jobs as well.

I used Time Stamp to estimate how long other types of work took to do so I could determine an estimate when a prospective customer called. I made a chart in Excel with all of this information and kept it handy to give customers a quote either over the phone or by email.

If you decide to try the program, go to the web site listed above. Click on Downloads and follow the instructions from there. This program is FREE… well actually, it’s “Donationware” which means it’s free but the author would appreciate a contribution to continue enhancements and support, which I gladly sent because this program is well worth it. If you decide to use the program, I’m sure you will agree.

To use the program after you install it:

1) Type in the hourly rate you wish to charge and click on Timing.

2) If you are interrupted before you finish the job, click on Slacking.

The timer will divide the time into Work (billable) Time and Slack Time listed at the top listing the total time and cost for each.

You can time different phases of a job by stopping the timer then starting it again.

3) To stop timing the job, simply click on Timing a second time.

Each phase of the job you time will be listed on a different line containing the work time, slack time and total of that phase of the job.

At the end of each line under the Notes column, you can type a short explanation of what you did during that time.

The file can be saved using a file (job) name in any folder you wish. When you’re finished with the job, you can print out the entire page showing all of this information.

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If you’re a mystery-suspense novel fan, be sure to stop by this site. I’ll be posting excerpts from some of my books. I hope to publish my first novel, Road Rage Dolls: Someone is Murdering Road Rage Drivers in 2021.

My second novel to be published in 2018 is titled Susan’s Stalkers – Double The Fear.

Food for thought: What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” (Ralph Marston )

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Thanks for taking time from your busy day to stop by. I hope you enjoy my stories and I hope my tips, tricks, secrets, and shortcuts help you improve your skills and/or work smarter and more efficiently. If you have a question regarding dictation transcription, how to run your own secretarial service from home, or if you have a topic you would like me to write about, just let me know by email at: GSKWAuthor@mindspring.com

Bookmark this site and be sure to check the Schedule of Future Posts and Past Articles Page. The schedule will be updated regularly.

When you subscribe to my website you will receive occasional email updates and notifications about new articles and short stories, my full novel publication dates, FREE ebook downloads, and future events and contests. Sign up using the Subscribe form below.