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