Do you have one of these on your child's car seat??
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If not, you really should! Stickers are available at most hospitals and fire stations. You should be sure to update them as information changes (new emergency contact info, etc.) and as children change between car seats (i.e. LB is now using the car seat that his older brother outgrew so I had to change the info on the sticker to reflect his information and not that of his big brother).
At our most recent metabolic clinic appointment, they gave us some new carseat stickers since he has recently moved from the baby bucket seat to a regular (albeit still rear-facing) car seat. I was curious about whether first responders are trained to look for these little stickers, so I called up our local fire department to ask about them. They confirmed that in a severe accident, it is standard procedure to extract children from vehicles using the car seat to stabilize them (meaning a bright flourescent green sticker would be easily visible to a first responder). In incidents where parents are unable to speak for their children, it is also standard procedure to look for a car seat sticker that will provide them with information on the child.
In addition to the car seat sticker, we also carry a red emergency envelope in the glove compartment of each of our cars containing the most recent copy of LB's emergency room letter and a list of emergency contacts. This way, when we are rushing to the ER or if we ever have to go to the ER without a chance to go home and pack first, we don't have to fret about finding his emergency letter, it's always in the car! I noted this on his car seat sticker, too - "check glove box for emergency letter" - just in case it expedites his care before the first responders are able to contact the metabolic clinic on-call physician.
At the appointment, his doctors also urged us to get a medic alert bracelet for LB, so that if we are ever unable to speak for him, those who attend to him will know that he has MCADD and that they should contact his clinic for instructions on how to care for him. They suggested that the bracelet read - "Metabolic Disorder, MCADD, Needs Glucose, Call Metabolic Physician On-Call ###-###-####".
So far, no luck on finding a medic alert item that would be appropriate for a one-year-old, but I'm still looking. Once he gets older, there are lots of medic alert jewelry options (braceletes, anklets, necklaces, etc.), but if anyone has anything that they have used for little ones, I'm excited to hear about them. Feel free to comment with your findings!
Thanks for commenting! I posted this when my son was very young and was still required to eat every couple hours. I was concerned about what might happen to our son if I were ever in a car accident where I was injured and unable to tell the first responders about his metabolic condition and his need to eat frequently. Having a sticker on the car seat that alerts the paramedics to his MCADD and tells them where to find his emergency protocol letter gave me some peace of mind that he would be well taken care of in the unlikely event that this ever happened.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of where to get them, I live in the United States and they are regularly distributed to new moms after giving birth in the hospital (because we are a country where most travel is done in cars, most hospitals will not release a newborn from the hospital unless they are riding in an age appropriate car seat). The stickers are also distributed at many doctor's offices where young children are treated, especially the offices of specialists who treat children with specific health concerns.
Fire stations and other locations that perform car-seat safety clinics (where they teach parents the correct way to install a car seat and restrain their child in it) are also good places to get a sticker.