From the ARRL-- ARES Newsletter December 21, 2016
All of us who have had even minimal experience at the scene of any form of disaster, man-made or natural, know just how rapidly things can change in that environment. We have our "go bags" ready for what we believe we will need to get us through the situation/deployment. But have we given any thought about what would happen if, during our deployment, something were to happen to us, both on a minor scale and a larger scale?
For the minor scale issues, I suggest what I call a personal comfort pack. This would include items such as pain killers, cough drops, Antacid, lip balm, sun screen, any prescription drugs you may need, a few Band-AidsŪ, a few granola or power bars, and anything else you think may make your deployment a little easier and more comfortable for you, such as eye drops if you wear contact lenses.
All of these items can fit into a small pouch: I use a nice weather proof camera case I found in a local thrift store! Many of the items listed can be found in small quantities in the travel section of some stores. These smaller versions are ideal for your kit. Of course your kit doesn't have to be small. If you want more comfort items than can fit into a small pouch you could always go bigger. Popular now in some sporting goods stores are the plastic military style "ammo cans." These would also be a good choice for your personal comfort kit. They are inexpensive, light weight and have a rubber gasket around the lid to give it some degree of water resistance. These "cans" can even hold a bottle of water if you wanted one
Now that you have taken care of the little things, what can you do to help yourself if something more serious happened to you during your deployment and you were unable to communicate? Most Emergency Medical Technicians are used to looking at a person's wrist or neck for a medic alert bracelet or necklace, so I got a very small brightly colored flash drive and labeled it on both sides, "Mike B. MEDICAL."
Since there are laptops everywhere now, from mobile data terminals (MDT's) in the squad emergency transport vehicles to the desks in the trauma center, you can communicate a great deal of information without being conscious by having it readily available on the little flash drive.
On mine, I have the following: Page one has my name, address, home phone and date of birth. It also lists the names and cell phone numbers of my wife and daughters. At the bottom, in red and in all caps, I have listed no allergies and my blood type. The next few pages list my personal medical history to include the type of medical incident (broken bones, surgeries, etc.) the attending physician's name, the date and location of treatment. After that I have a sheet with a copy of the labels of all prescription medications I am currently on. This gives the hospital the type of medication, dose, and the name of the physician who prescribed it.
Next I have a page that has a copy of all my doctor's business cards, from my family doctor to a specialist, my dentist and even my optometrist. I provide this so that if a trauma center or ER doctor has a specific question, he/she can contact my doctor directly. Lastly I provide a page of family medical history. Depending on what has happened to you, this information could be very important.
You might say, well I have a card in my wallet with my spouse's contact information -- they can just call him/her and get the information needed, and you would be correct, they could. However, in some medical situations, time is of the essence and if they had any difficulty contacting your spouse, they are using up critical time.
Conclusion: It takes very little effort to put together a personal comfort pack and personal medical information onto a flash drive. Do it for yourself and your family. -- Mike Burg, N8QQN, Emergency Medical Technician [Burg retired recently as Chief of Police. One of the first things he did after making Chief was to install a 2-meter radio and station in the department. Burg said, "Since the department is one of the three 9-1-1 centers in the county, we have a massive generator that runs the entire building in the event of a power outage. By putting the station there, my club was always able to get on the air."]
