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Medical IDs for Kids

A medical ID usually takes the form of a bracelet that displays important information about a person's medical history. The purpose of an ID for children is to alert paramedics and other medical professionals to this history so that the proper treatment can be given to your child. There are four key pieces of information that should be included on your child's medical ID: diagnosis or condition, allergies, patient's name and emergency contact.

  1. Diagnosis or Condition

    • Information to list on a child's medical ID should include pre-existing conditions, as well as any important diagnoses. Anything that might have an impact on the child's treatment should be listed. Some of these conditions or diagnoses could include diabetes, autism or hypoglycemia. The bracelet will typically use medical abbreviations for any of these issues, such as "AAA" for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

    Allergies

    • The medical ID bracelet your child wears should also include any food, drug or insect allergies she has. Some of these allergies may include nuts, penicillin and bees. It's important to list these because the drugs or treatments administered by a healthcare professional may have a negative impact on the well-being of your child. Like the medical conditions or diagnoses listed on the bracelet, the allergy listings will also use abbreviations that are understood by all medical professionals. An example of one of these allergy abbreviations is "ASA," which stands for aspirin.

    Contact Information

    • The child's name should be clearly identified on the medical ID, but if you prefer, you can have it engraved on the back of the bracelet so that it's out of sight. You should also have the name and phone number of the child's emergency contact listed on the bracelet. Again, you can have this engraved on the back of the ID, but it should be there in case your child is in a medical emergency situation that prevents him from conveying who to contact.

    Benefits

    • If your child has ongoing medical conditions or has serious allergies, he should where a medical ID bracelet for his own safety. In a medical emergency the child may not be able to speak for himself, but a medical ID can speak for him. Even if the child can speak, he may not know all of the important information he should convey to a paramedic, doctor or nurse. Prompt diagnosis is very important when treating a condition; a medical ID can ensure your child receives the proper diagnosis. A medical ID can also eliminate unnecessary trips to the hospital. For example, if your child is prone to seizures and this information is displayed on his medical ID, a paramedic can help stabilize the child without having to take him to a hospital.

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