St Christopher or USB?

[GaryBeaner]

Hello all,
I have a question based on the fact that quite often enjoying what we do, we as 'bushcrafters' will inevitably found ourselves alone in the great outdoors. I was wondering if anyone wears or has considered wearing/carrying one of the many 'next of kin/emergency contact' type pieces of jewellery, and if so how does it rate, would they recommend it?
By how does it rate I don't mean did you use the neck chain to rappel down a cliff face, I 'm more thinking of these new bits of kit that carry all your info on a USB type dog tag or bracelet. Has anyone got any stories, good or bad? Does an ambulance carry the kit to read one before you've made it to the hospital? Or is the consensus to stick with the 'SOS Talisman' type where the info's carried on a piece of paper?
For your perusal:
http://www.utagice.com/index.html
http://www.theidbandco.com/

Cheers!!

[Dan XF]

There is currently no facility for any NHS Ambulance to read information held on a memory stick and as far as I'm aware this is not something in the pipeline. You're better off carring a waterproof ID card with your details on or a standard SOS talisman. If you carry a phone with you you can enter your details as ICE in your phone book. This is the default address the Paramedics look up In Case of Emergency, you can then put your details in along side this information. It is also a good idea to have a list of your prescription meds with you as this can give an indication of your medical history and some of the drugs that Paramedics carry can react with others and it's nice to know that you may have a reaction to avoid administration in the first place. Incidentally if you do carry a phone but it has no signal you can dial 112 for an emergency and this will be picked up by any service provider. Your position can be triangulated to a few metres from the phone masts carrying your call. Hope this helps.

[Martin]

All good advice there Dan thanks very much. And, a very warm welcome to the NaturalBushcraft forum.

Martin

[Silverback]

From another services point of view Gary, Lowland Search & Rescue and Mountain Rescue also do not have the facility to read USB's 'on the hill' so SOS Talisman, Medic alert or similar is the best option.

With regard to phones. If you do call in do not turn the phone off to save the battery, the emergency services may well try to call you back, and location finding of phone is not possible when its turned off.

[Silverback]

Dan welcome to NB

In certain parts up our way mobile phone triangulation is wildly inaccurate and the best phone providers could offer us by way of accuracy was 500m and shouldnt be relied upon