Free medical id bracelets for autistics

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teksla
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19 Nov 2016, 8:17 pm

Here is the link, http://www.medicalert.org/autism
it is legit, i promise. I just found it myself and wanted to share with others, thought you might want to know.

I ordered one for myself (and i got a free shoe id as well), although if you live outside the US you might hve some issues enter your address, dont know why.


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Edenthiel
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20 Nov 2016, 11:05 pm

Please be aware that if you take advantage of the offer you are volunteering information about your medical condition and unless their privacy policy is airtight for that 'free' product, they may sell your name & personal info to their "partners" (ie pretty much anyone willing to pay for the marketing leads). Also, I wonder what happens in a HIPAA situation when you've already made a condition non-private...


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Fitzi
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21 Nov 2016, 4:23 pm

Edenthiel wrote:
Please be aware that if you take advantage of the offer you are volunteering information about your medical condition and unless their privacy policy is airtight for that 'free' product, they may sell your name & personal info to their "partners" (ie pretty much anyone willing to pay for the marketing leads). Also, I wonder what happens in a HIPAA situation when you've already made a condition non-private...


My non Autistic son has a Medic Alert due to a life-threatening medical condition. You only give Medic Alert the info you want. They don't sell your information to third parties. Medic Alert is an old, very legit company. The point of it is, if you are having a medical emergency (or other emergency, in some cases), another person could read your medic alert and know that you have a condition. In my son's case, it would alert someone to the fact that he has medication. Also, a medical professional could call Medic Alert and give your ID #, so that they would know important medical info that you might not be able to communicate during the emergency, like what medications you are on, if you have allergies to food or medication, what conditions you have. In the case of Autism, I assume it is just to let them know so that they understand you may be non verbal at the time, or that you may not have typical behavior.

We have never had a HIPAA issue from having a Medic Alert.



Edenthiel
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21 Nov 2016, 6:57 pm

Hi Fitzi, I'm glad you are comfortable with them and their service. I am not, but none of our family's conditions are life-threatening. If they were I would likely balance that equation differently. Over the years I've had personal information released to 'business partners' even when a company <NOT LIFE ALERT!> stated they would not - they'd simply changed their policy or in one case, been purchased (largely for their databases). Because of that, perhaps I am overly wary, but it is what it is. Again, I am glad they provide that piece of mind for you, I just like to remind people to always pay attention to where their personal data is being held & by whom.


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Fitzi
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21 Nov 2016, 7:14 pm

Edenthiel wrote:
Hi Fitzi, I'm glad you are comfortable with them and their service. I am not, but none of our family's conditions are life-threatening. If they were I would likely balance that equation differently. Over the years I've had personal information released to 'business partners' even when a company <NOT LIFE ALERT!> stated they would not - they'd simply changed their policy or in one case, been purchased (largely for their databases). Because of that, perhaps I am overly wary, but it is what it is. Again, I am glad they provide that piece of mind for you, I just like to remind people to always pay attention to where their personal data is being held & by whom.


Gotcha. And, yes, it's safer for us to have the Medic Alert bracelet than not to, whether they ever released his info or not. It could be a difference in whether he survives or not. Besides the fact that this info is already all over his school records, camp, extracurricular class records, etc. anyway. So, it wouldn't make too much of a difference.