911 and Chronic Illness Part 2 + a Freebie!

Having to call 911 when you have a chronic illness can be extremely stressful. Not only do you have to deal with trying to explain your medical emergency to the paramedics, but you also have to make sure they are aware of your medical history and medications. If you missed my first blog on calling 911 when chronically ill, be sure to check it out here. In that blog I shared my top 5 tips for calling. One of those tips was to write down your symptoms the second they start happening. I personally follow this advice and over the last several months was finding it tedious having to write down my symptoms along with medications over and over only to throw the piece of paper away on the nights I was able to manage at home.

So I decided to come up with a better system. I created a premade sheet that on the back had my medical history and medications, and on the front contained space for me to keep track of my emergent symptoms. This helped make the process of note taking more organized and easy, however I wanted this document to be reusable so I wasn't having to waste so much paper. So I remembered an old trick from high school, laminating paper essentially turns it into a mini dry erase board. I now could have a handy form to fill out as symptoms came that I could give to EMS should it escalate, but one that I could also erase and start again if I was able to manage at home.

This has been so helpful for me over the last couple of months. There have been many nights I have filled it out and been able to erase it the next day. There was also a night I ended up having to use it and was able to share it with the paramedics. It also is extremely helpful for family in the event you become unresponsive or unable to communicate. They won't have to guess at meds you took or symptoms you have, but will have it all tracked in front of them. Now obviously some emergencies happen too quick for any of this, but with a chronic illness there are many that are more progressive in nature and you will have time to write stuff down. This form is also handy in the ER to give to nurses or doctors.

If you want to try using this at home here is the PDF!

EMS SHEET.pdf

Download PDF • 56KB

I recommend writing in the permanent info on the back sheet before laminating so it can never be erased. If you don't have a laminator or access to one, page protectors can also work. Dry erase markers work great on the laminated surface or page protector. If its not coming off easy, a little rubbing alcohol should work to finish erasing it.

Do you have any tips for calling 911 when chronically ill? If so share them below and be sure to share this blogs with anyone you know who may find this helpful.

Disclaimer-

All information provided on this blog is for educational purposes only. Always consult your healthcare provider and/or your insurance provider for your specific situation. This blog does not offer medical advice.