Identification Of A Patient

Identification of a Patient / Accident Victim

In the event of an accident or a medical emergency it is often a stranger who comes to your rescue. A major concern for many people is personal identification and the notification of family members of such an event.

These strangers who come into our lives are everyday heroes and real life detectives. First and foremost their job is to save a life but once the patient is stabilised they have to identify the patient, enquire about medical aid and often contact family members.

This can be done in numerous ways, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages.

The most obvious is to locate a wallet with medical aid card, driver’s license or other form of identification. If the emergency personnel were not first on scene this may have been stolen by bystanders.

If lucky, the accident or emergency could be in the vicinity of home or work where the patient is easily identifiable. Then a bystander may be able to provide emergency personnel with the relevant information.

In our technology driven world the cell phone has been invaluable in assisting. Internationally the acronym I.C.E ( In Case of Emergency) is used to identify a contact person on an individuals cell phone for such an event.

In the event of a motor vehicle accident, if Metro Police are on scene the patient may be identified by tracing the number plates. This is only helpful if the driver is the registered owner of the motor vehicle.

Last but not least, bracelets, identification badges and ER24 SWEATSAFE has also assisted where all other methods have failed.

As mentioned before, this is real life detective work and can be challenging for an emergency personnel who have numerous tasks to complete in a short space of time in a largely uncontrolled environment.

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