The Emergency Standard
Why Create An Emergency Standard?
The United States should create an Emergency Standard for first time responders such as
Paramedics, EMT's, Fire Department's, Police Department's or any other Emergency Response
people which will act as an official standard or a guideline to locate a person's update medical
information, emergency contact, medical insurance information, blood type, name, address and
photo verification of the individual. The official standard or guideline will also provide the six
common places to look for an individual's Emergency Standard Card such as:
1) Automobile Accident: The First Time Responders will look in the automobile glove compartment, in the individual's wallet.
2) Pedestrians: The First Time Responders will look in the individual's wallet or purse.
3) Bicyclists or Motorcyclists Accident: The First Time Responders can look under the Bicycle or Motorcycle seat for the Emergency Standard Card. Also the First Time Responders can also look in the individual's wallet or purse for their Emergency Standard Card, if needed.
4) Emergency Call to an individual's Home or Residence: The First Time Responders look in the refrigerator's diary or butter dish for the individual's Emergency Standard Card and their wallet or purse.
5) Emergency Call to a sporting event involving any athlete, player public or private school, Jr. high school athlete, high school athlete, college athlete and pro athlete: The First Time Responders can get the Emergency Standard Card for the player in question from the head coach of their athletic team.
6) Emergency Call to the Work Place: The First Time Responders can get the Emergency Standard Card from the Employer's Emergency Response Team Member. Also the First Time Responders will look in the individual's wallet or purse.
There is a real need for The Emergency Standard, and one example is the study done on the "National Study of Ambulance Transports to United States Emergency Departments:" titled "Importance of Mental Health Problems",(Internet Pre-hospital and Disaster Medicine, Volumes 21, No. 2, March 2006).
The following study stated that of the 114 million visits to the United States Emergency Departments (EDs) in 2003, it was estimated that 16.2 million individual's arrived by ambulance, approximately one in seven (14%). Given that basic ambulance transport averaged charges equal $550-660 per trip, emergency medical services (EMS) transport to ED cost the nation almost $10 billion annually.
For the 7.4 million mental health patients, however, nearly one in three (31% which was 2.3 million individual's used an ambulance in order to access ED. That leaves 13.9 million individual's that arrived by ambulance due to injuries from automobile accidents, distracted driving, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists being injured. Not to mention calls to individual's homes, residence, sports or work related injuries.
With the Emergency Standard in place to address getting an individual's medical information, medical insurance information, emergency contacts, blood type and a photo verification it would only take seconds instead of minutes. This simple Emergency Standard would save time for the First Time Responders, ensure fast, adequate care, would reduce medical costs and most importantly save lives.
