Who Needs To Know Who Your Doctors Are And The Medications You Take?
Anyone responding in an emergency situation would need to know who your doctors are and the medications you take.
If you were in an emergency situation where saving your life might depend on another person knowing these things, do you have a list of the medications you take, their strengths, the times you take each and why you take them? Do you have a list of your doctors? Perhaps knowing the names of your doctors might save countless tests and x-rays because they already have this information.
Do you have a list of your doctors and their specialties? And do you have a record in your own words of your illnesses, medical visits and treatments? Where are these lists? Do others know where to get this life-saving information? I've posed a lot of questions thus far; this article will suggest creating these valuable lists and a way to make these critical medical records available to your family, your doctors, emergency-room personnel, and anyone else who needs to know.
You'll have a fool-proof method to make certain everyone who needs to know has this information.
Spreading this information around just might save your life.
If you have previously been treated for an illness, stroke, or an accident, saving your life in an emergency situation might depend on having a record of an earlier incident.
Being able to share what was wrong, or how it happened and the consequences, the dates of the event, the time you were in a hospital, and why you were treated the way you were will be very important.
It will also be quite helpful if your finish your medical history record with a summary of your illness (including the names of the doctors who treated you and the medicines you were prescribed).
If you are unconscious or have had a stroke that prevents you from speaking, there are many benefits from having your medical history available (even if it is a non-technical record).
Being able to review your past illnesses, etc.
could speed up the diagnosis and save your life.
The information may also enable the physician to eliminate some possible causes of a present illness.
Start your doctors' list by first listing the physician's specialty.
Then show the doctor's name, his office address, phone number, and an emergency number.
If you know the names of the doctors' nurses, include them.
(If you have personal information that will quickly trigger recollection when someone calls, include that, too.
) Repeat the process for every type doctor you see.
For example, your list could include your family physician, internist, cardiologist, the radiologist who treated you, urologist, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, rheumatologist, allergist, orthopedic, and on and on.
Can you see how valuable having this information easily accessible is? Make another list of the medicines you take.
Make a column which lists the brand name, the generic name, the strength, whether you take it in the morning, at night or at specific times during the day, and if you take more than one pill, the number you take.
There is one more piece of valuable information to add to this list-why you take the medicine? Many prescriptions can treat multiple causes, so be sure to list the reason, i.
e.
"high blood pressure.
" There's another self-prepared list critical to your care: The Doctor's Visit History.
Each time you go to a doctor, make a record that shows, by date, the doctor's name, a short write-up that tells why you saw the doctor, his diagnosis, the treatment recommended, and the medicines prescribed.
If you had tests performed, try to summarize the results.
(If you were given a copy of the test results, consider including them with your write-up.
) The more details you provide, the better.
Don't hide your lists.
Like your will, the information needs to be easily found.
Your lists should be accessible to anyone.
That may mean that you'll give each of your children and several of your friends copies of the lists.
One last thing: put the date of your next doctor's appointment in several places.
Write the information on your calendar or include it in your computerized calendar.
Be a Good Samaritan.
Talk to your friends about your life-saving program.
Do any of your older friends take more pills each day than you? Do they go to more doctors than you? Your friends will agree that it makes sense to have a list of doctors and prescriptions.
Discuss your lists with your friends.
Share each other's lists.
This is life-saving stuff! Do it.
You'll be glad you did.
If you were in an emergency situation where saving your life might depend on another person knowing these things, do you have a list of the medications you take, their strengths, the times you take each and why you take them? Do you have a list of your doctors? Perhaps knowing the names of your doctors might save countless tests and x-rays because they already have this information.
Do you have a list of your doctors and their specialties? And do you have a record in your own words of your illnesses, medical visits and treatments? Where are these lists? Do others know where to get this life-saving information? I've posed a lot of questions thus far; this article will suggest creating these valuable lists and a way to make these critical medical records available to your family, your doctors, emergency-room personnel, and anyone else who needs to know.
You'll have a fool-proof method to make certain everyone who needs to know has this information.
Spreading this information around just might save your life.
If you have previously been treated for an illness, stroke, or an accident, saving your life in an emergency situation might depend on having a record of an earlier incident.
Being able to share what was wrong, or how it happened and the consequences, the dates of the event, the time you were in a hospital, and why you were treated the way you were will be very important.
It will also be quite helpful if your finish your medical history record with a summary of your illness (including the names of the doctors who treated you and the medicines you were prescribed).
If you are unconscious or have had a stroke that prevents you from speaking, there are many benefits from having your medical history available (even if it is a non-technical record).
Being able to review your past illnesses, etc.
could speed up the diagnosis and save your life.
The information may also enable the physician to eliminate some possible causes of a present illness.
Start your doctors' list by first listing the physician's specialty.
Then show the doctor's name, his office address, phone number, and an emergency number.
If you know the names of the doctors' nurses, include them.
(If you have personal information that will quickly trigger recollection when someone calls, include that, too.
) Repeat the process for every type doctor you see.
For example, your list could include your family physician, internist, cardiologist, the radiologist who treated you, urologist, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, rheumatologist, allergist, orthopedic, and on and on.
Can you see how valuable having this information easily accessible is? Make another list of the medicines you take.
Make a column which lists the brand name, the generic name, the strength, whether you take it in the morning, at night or at specific times during the day, and if you take more than one pill, the number you take.
There is one more piece of valuable information to add to this list-why you take the medicine? Many prescriptions can treat multiple causes, so be sure to list the reason, i.
e.
"high blood pressure.
" There's another self-prepared list critical to your care: The Doctor's Visit History.
Each time you go to a doctor, make a record that shows, by date, the doctor's name, a short write-up that tells why you saw the doctor, his diagnosis, the treatment recommended, and the medicines prescribed.
If you had tests performed, try to summarize the results.
(If you were given a copy of the test results, consider including them with your write-up.
) The more details you provide, the better.
Don't hide your lists.
Like your will, the information needs to be easily found.
Your lists should be accessible to anyone.
That may mean that you'll give each of your children and several of your friends copies of the lists.
One last thing: put the date of your next doctor's appointment in several places.
Write the information on your calendar or include it in your computerized calendar.
Be a Good Samaritan.
Talk to your friends about your life-saving program.
Do any of your older friends take more pills each day than you? Do they go to more doctors than you? Your friends will agree that it makes sense to have a list of doctors and prescriptions.
Discuss your lists with your friends.
Share each other's lists.
This is life-saving stuff! Do it.
You'll be glad you did.
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