When you hear the possible side effects ("death" is a word not infrequently mentioned) listed for the myriad prescription drugs advertised on TV, you may often wonder, as I do, why anyone would ever take them (the drug being advertised) unless it was just absolutely "drop dead" necessary. We do, of course, take them, making pharmaceuticals one of the most (if not the most) profitable industries in the world. These medicines, when there is proper diagnosis and prescription, often deserve the description "miracle"----- dealing with serious and often life-threatening diseases and medical conditions, To be successful, these drugs must often be quite powerful and, like the world powers, certain ones among them may not always get along with each other.In fact, the presence of two of these non-compatible healers in the same human body at the same time can  cause very extremely bad reactions.......sometimes leading even to death. This is one type of Adverse Drug Reaction or ADR.

Doctors and other medical professionals spend great time and effort learning about these adverse relationships between drugs...........they use a variety of tools to stay current with the latest developments........pharmacists keep a watchful eye on their customers' list of meds......and yet the number of ADRs and the number of ADRs leading to death continues at an unacceptable level.................an estimated 2,216,000 ADRs a year------- in excess of 100,000 are fatal (JAMA). Most of these are, and appropriately so, classified as non-error. In some cases the patient had a previously undiagnosed allergy to the drug in others the treating physician, faced with the need for prompt treatment, did not have access to complete and accurate information as to the medications the patient was already taking.

In the latter case a solution would be to place all pertinent health data on the person of the patient. In the future this may well mean a scanner-readable chip embedded in the person's body but we're not there yet. However, the function of the embedded chip can now be realized easily and economically..............the needed information as to medical conditions and medications can be placed on the person of the patient using the ResQFlash drives. The ResQFlash USB drive is plugged into any computer USB port and with one click brings to the screen the patient's picture; medical history; current medications; doctors; family notification information; and even insurance information. The ResQFlash system provides the means to keep the information current (especially important as regards medications).

ResQFlash is offered as a Trio, that is three separate drives: the key chain drive for driving; the credit card carried at all times in billfold or purse; and the lightweight capsule on a lanyard conceivably to be worn at all times but for sure whenever not in the family car or not carrying the billfold. Practically all situations are covered by one or more of these three. The cost at $ 50.00 for the Trio is nominal.

The task of bringing all medical records into an immediately accessible national electronic system is a gigantic one but it will happen. Many experts believe the project will require at least a decade to be complete....others say twice that long. However long it takes it will be a complicated process requiring coordination among many elements. It is entirely possible that some medical records will get "misplaced", in whole or in part, and in that situation personal possession of electronic records would take on added importance.

ResQFlash is a step that can be taken now, easily and cheaply, to avoid becoming a statistic

THE CLASSIC CAR KEY CHAIN DRIVE............WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING YOUR OWN CAR

THE CREDIT CARD STYLE DRIVE...........ALWAYS IN YOUR WALLET.....TRAVELING BY AIR?........RENTING A CAR?

THE LIGHT AS A FEATHER "PILL" ON A LANYARD............HIKING?...............CAMPING?

However, our modified caduceus with the USB symbol instead of the more usual snakes will catch the eye of potential rescuers because the caduceus has become s symbol for medicine and medical care throughout the world.

For the scholars among you it should be noted that "caduceus" is a misused term ..........it is really "the Rod of Asclepius". Oh well, "caduceus" is much easier to say and our bright red version is prominently displayed on all three configurations of the ResQFlash. The company name "......LifeLinks" engraved on the Classic and Credit Card versions gives a clue as well. Someday we hope our logo will be one of the most universally recognized. You can help with that.

I take a lot of medications and, of course, they’re all listed on my ResQFlash Trio along with the name of the prescribing Dr. and his/her phone number. This provides me with excellent protection in that situation which is the original and primary mission of ResQFlash……to tell an attending physician what he/she needs to know about my health status when, due to unconsciousness or shock, I am unable to do so.

In my family, my ResQFlash plays a much broader role. The data on the drive has been copied onto my desktop computer, my wife’s laptop, and my daughter’s desktop. This operation took about 2 minutes per computer. This simple, no cost, effort brings many benefits…..some potentially quite crucial others just greatly convenient………………

If my wife is out of town and I become seriously ill, my daughter is well equipped to deal with the situation, contact my doctors, administer my medication, etc.

If I’m going to the Dr’s office for a routine visit I can print out my record to present to the technician when she asks the inevitable “What medications are you currently taking?” In fact on a recent visit to a new Dr, when the technician saw the ResQFlash printout she said “That’s really great—I wish we were computerized so that we could just plug this in. I’m going to show this to the Dr.!”

In the unlikely event that the data on your ResQFlash became corrupted somehow, you could erase the data and recopy it from your computer…..a backup which might take as long as 2-3 minutes to accomplish.. Of course, you have several other ways to deal with this very unlikely problem…..copy from another member of your Trio, or call USB Life Links………..

We have found that sharing this information in a readily available manner has generally opened up the subject of family health care in a very good way………..my daughter’s almost immediate comment was that she felt so much more confident knowing what she could/would do in a situation if it was dropped on her shoulders. This leads to a more “global” thought. Faced with the uncertainties of the future of healthcare and of healthcare records, it behooves us all to become much more specifically aware of many of the details of our own healthcare issues…….definition and status of conditions we may have, prescription drugs we are taking, etc. Given the magnitude of the process of changing over to centralized electronic records, it is not beyond the pale of possibility that some records may get lost in the shuffle. This emphasizes the need for the individual to personally possess records of at least the most important aspects of his/her health picture. 

As they begin treatment of a patient, doctors rely greatly on information that is gathered about that patient’s health status…his/her age, current symptoms, ongoing medical issues, and medications the patient is taking. Obviously, if the doctor does not have access to any of this information then he/she (and the patient) may be starting treatment at a terrible disadvantage.

ER doctors are often faced with this situation. They are looking at a patient who is unaccompanied, unconscious (or in shock), and therefore unable to communicate anything about themselves to the ER staff.

Since there is currently no immediately available centralized comprehensive medical records repository, in the vast majority of these cases disposition of the patient’s treatment by the ER is complete before the medical records are seen, if, in fact they are seen by the ER staff at all.

The risks for patient and Doctor are thus elevated.

Just one of the elevated risks is that of ADR or Adverse Drug Reaction, one type of which is the administering of a drug which has a serious and possibly fatal interaction with a drug already in the patient’s system. This is a risk that would be avoided if the Doctor knew of the already present unfriendly drug. According to the Journal of The American Medical Association (Vol. 284, No 4, July 26^th, 2000, an article by Dr. Barbara Stanfield, MD, MPH of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health) there are 106,000 deaths per year in the U.S. from non-error adverse effects of medications……many of these are of the conflicted drug type and are called non-error because the doctor did not have available to him/her knowledge of previous medication and needed to take action immediately.

This is a risk which, as a result of USB technology, can be easily and economically avoided by the possession of a readily recognizable and immediately readable electronic record on a USB flash drive(s) which people carry with them at all times. The drive, when plugged into the USB port (present on virtually all modern computers) instantly presents a picture of the patient; listing of relevant health issues and events (diabetes, by-pass surgery, etc.); detailed (name, dosage, frequency, etc.) listing of medications; listing with phone numbers of patient’s physicians; contact information for emergency notification; and insurance information.

The USB Life Links website (https://www.usblifelinks.com) explains how the ResQFlash or the ResQFlash Trio can change what the Doctor had no way of knowing into ……..DATA THAT SAVES!

 

 

A client called yesterday to tell me she had presented her ResQFlash on a Doctor visit....they had plugged it in and eagerly printed out the list of her medications. They were quite impressed and asked for our contact info.....that's the kind of news we love to hear.

In an emergency, ResQFlash holds data that saves. If an accident happens and you're alone or unconscious or in shock in an emergency room, who's going to speak for you? How will the ER staff get vital information about your significant medical conditions and the medications you're taking in order to make the best decisions for your medical care? ResQFlashcan provide this life-saving data instantly when plugged into the USB port of any computer.

If you become one of the 27.7 million Americans who end up in an emergency room due to an accident or unexpected illness, ResQFlash protects you - and may even save your life. Choose the flash drive that works for you. Give yourself some peace of mind -- because in matters of life and death, data saves.