Turlock-based MedicAlert Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Central California have formed a partnership to offer medical emergency and identification bracelets to children in the Central Valley.
The partnership was formed in an effort to improve health and needs assessments for Children’s Hospital patients who have needs which may require access to accurate, timely medical information from anywhere at any time.
Children’s Hospital will offer MedicAlert’s live 24/7 emergency response and record bracelets to patients, which can provide peace of mind and comfort to families and parents of young patients.
“The mission of Children's Hospital Central California is to provide high quality, comprehensive healthcare services to children,” said Gordon Alexander, Jr., MD, president and chief executive officer of Children’s Hospital Central California. “By working with MedicAlert Foundation, we will be able to extend the care we provide beyond the walls of our hospital.”
Bracelets will feature a familiar face, George the Giraffe, the Children’s Hospital mascot.
The newly formed health alliance will provide medical staff, paramedics and first responders with immediate access to a patient’s critical health information. Often pediatric emergency patients, particularly those with complex medical conditions, can pose a difficult challenge for first responders in the field and in emergency rooms. The bracelets can help avert tragedies.
In addition to the bracelets, children and their parents will receive emergency wallet cards that provide first responders with details on any critical medical conditions, including medications, life-threatening allergic reactions and implantable medical devices. All calls to the MedicAlert live 24/7 emergency response center are answered by specially-trained staff who provide vital information to first responders. MedicAlert patient information also is available online to authorized first responders and hospital emergency department personnel.
“MedicAlert was founded by a physician in 1956 after his daughter suffered a severe allergic reaction,” said Andrew B. Wigglesworth, president and CEO of MedicAlert Foundation. “Children have always been at the heart of the MedicAlert mission. While MedicAlert Foundation provides these services around the globe, we are extremely pleased to be working to serve children in our home area with such a respected and leading provider of pediatric healthcare in the nation as Children’s Hospital Central California.”
The MedicAlert program is focused on children served by the Neurology, Endocrinology, Oncology, and CMCC units, but will soon be offered to all patients of the hospital.
“This is a new pilot program for MedicAlert and it made sense to work with Children’s first because of its location,” explained MedicAlert spokesperson Jillian Megee. “After one year we will reevaluate with the possibility of going national.”
MedicAlert bracelets are not free, but are lost cost since MedicAlert is a non-profit organization. Bracelets cost $29.95 for young patients to join the system and then a $20 renewal fee each year.
For more information www.medicalert.org or www.childrenscentralcal.org.
To contact Jonathan McCorkell, e-mail jmccorkell@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2015.
