MedicAlert® Launches National Training Program for Emergency Medical Information
Free Training Service to be Presented at St. Louis' St. Luke's Hospital August 22
TURLOCK, California (August 21, 2003) – MedicAlert Foundation International, the world's leading emergency medical information service, will debut its nationwide training sessions for its emergency medical services and information programs at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, MO, tomorrow. Entitled “Quality Assurance: MedicAlert® Emergency Medical Information Service, ” these complimentary sessions train individuals in how to look for and identify an emergency victim's MedicAlert medical ID and in what procedures are necessary to follow in order to comply with the safeguards an identified medically dependent individual requires.
A MedicAlert emblem will typically identify an individual, along with his or her most pertinent medical concern (i.e., diabetes, penicillin reaction). It also displays a free number to be called immediately in the event of a medical emergency. Representatives at MedicAlert can then relay a patient's Emergency Medical Profile to emergency response personnel.
“ Obtaining all the information in an instant is essential; not to mention, crucial,” notes R. Brian Shockley, Emergency Medical Educator at MedicAlert. “The average MedicAlert Foundation emblem contains three lines of engraving. The Emergency Medical Profile has an average of eight items listed including personal contacts, physician contacts, allergies, conditions, implanted devices, and scanned documents like pre-hospital DNR, advance directives, and baseline EKGs. It also usually has their insurance information, as well.”
Shockley, the former Training Center Coordinator for the American Heart Association in Oakdale, CA and a veteran Surgical Technician with the U.S. Navy, will be conducting tomorrow's training class, which he originated this past spring for an asthma awareness program in Fresno, CA, near MedicAlert headquarters. He anticipates bringing his presentation to emergency facilities in all parts of the United States throughout the year. Training sessions include a one hour PowerPoint presentation and supply attendees receive a training pack with which they can host an informal in-service instruction for personnel in their departments. Managers, directors, and trainers for emergency response units can benefit from this valuable training session. MedicAlert emergency medical information procedures will enable patient care personnel to increase patient safety while decreasing errors due to incorrect patient information. This training session will also explore due diligence issues pertaining to compliance with MedicAlert information and patient safety issues that may arise in a “Focused Audit.”
Founded in 1956 with a mission to protect and save lives, MedicAlert Foundation International is one of the largest nonprofit membership organizations in the United States , providing 24-hour emergency response assistance worldwide. MedicAlert attends to the emergency needs and health information services for over 4 million members. More than 3,500 no-cost memberships are distributed annually to low-income and other medically-dependent individuals.
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