Emergency documentation list

[The Roadie]

Here's something I wrote up on the OS years ago and forgot to being over here:

I often trail ride with acquaintances/friends from Expedition Portal or Trailvoy or my day job. I carry a SPOT satellite emergency beacon and ham radio for emergency comm. A first aid kit levels below what an EMT would carry, but in a Pelican case bigger than a briefcase. Usually food, water, and shelter for a week even if it's a one-day trip to the desert.

But it struck me I'd have no way to answer questions from medical personnel, or notify any loved ones, in case somebody with me was injured to the point of being unconscious. An ad hoc group usually gets together with zero paperwork, liability releases, or designated boss.

I forget where I read this idea first, but if you're not going with close friends, you may not want casual acquaintances to have all that data accessible. Writing it, then sealing copies in a couple of envelopes to be given back at the END of the ride, is a solution. Why TWO envelopes? Because the trail guide/organizer may be the vehicle that rolls down the mountain, and the OTHERS have to be able to answer those questions. SO there should be a backup collection of envelopes if there are three or more vehicles in the group.

Or you can just ask that everybody on the ride has this information in their glove box or wallet. I certainly wouldn't leave it in my glove box off the trail.

So this thread is about what should be on that paper? Please recommend others, and I'll put the final one on my web site. That is, if it's a reasonable idea to be prepared like this. My wife sometimes worries that over-preparedness can INVOKE the very thing you're worried about.

Personal:

Name
home address
land line
cell phone
Pets that may be left at home
Emergency contacts
Employer who may need to know


Medical:

Primary Care physician
Medical Group
Contact numbers
Insurance plan numbers and phones
Any emergency evacuation coverage
Current prescriptions taken / dosages
Drug allergies
Medication/procedures that are not to be used unless/even (choose one) to save my life
Blood Type
HIV status
Eyeglasses or contact lenses - eye surgery / retina cautions
relevant medical history/surgeries like hypertension/diabetes/heart issues
pregnancy
implants (bone repairs, pacemaker, ostomy)
Existence of a living will/medical directive
Who has access/copies of the directive

[navigator]

Roadie, would blood type be of good use on that list?

[The Roadie]

Excellent suggestion.

[djthumper]

Blood type is a good thing, but if you need blood they always do a type test anyhow.

[KE7WOX]

Blood type is a good thing, but if you need blood they always do a type test anyhow.

Which is a good thing. I lived 14 years under the impression that I was A+ (and my mom was sure of that), listing A+ as my blood type everywhere, only to find out during a 9th grade bio lab that I was the only specimen in my class who was A-, the teacher was so impressed that she had me and a classmate redo the tests (she was AB something), and told us to get a blood test at a clinic just to make sure that the reagents were telling the truth. In my case, they were. So now all my documents say A-.

If I had ever needed a transfusion without doing a test I would have been dead within minutes.

[TangoBravo]

Maybe non-use of certain meds, I wheel with a guy here in Wyoming who is a recovering opiate addict(going on 9years) any ways he makes it very clear that he does not want any narcotic pain management if fear of what may happen if he did get it. IDK just a suggestion

[The Roadie]

Interesting, and I agree. Some folks have objections to certain procedures as well, that should be mentioned in this document.

[trailburner]

good list.
as a transplant recipient (lungs) i carry multiple copies of a very similar list.
the prescrition med list is a full page alone!
maybe the addition of critical medical equipment could be added.
for example: oxygen tanks, oxy concentraters, ....any type of essential equipment that aids in the treatment of an illness.
if you have the desire to offroad, camp, hunt, fish, or whatever outdoor activity you're into, an illness won't stop you.
you just have to drag along a bunch of extra gear.