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Your
Money
Matters
You Should Carry a Medical Emergency Card
By
Michael Chamberlain, CFP
A
medical emergency can happen at any time, and how you are prepared
can save your life.
Imagine you are walking; you trip, fall, bump your head and are unconscious.
Someone will be there to call 911, the ambulance arrives, places you on the gurney
and takes you to the hospital. Upon admittance, the hospital staff would look
through your personal belongings to identify you and hopefully find someone to
contact on your behalf.
If this were you, would the hospital worker be able to quickly identify who should
be called? Your family and friends have a home phone number, a work phone number,
as well as a cell phone. Do you have all of that information readily available
in your purse or wallet so that your family can be contacted quickly?
In a recent survey, over 90 percent of individuals failed to have the pertinent
emergency contact information readily available in the event of a medical emergency.
For this reason, when clients come to my office for financial planning, one of
the many recommendations I make is that that they carry this information with
them. The problem is how to easily carry this crucial data.
This problem is now solved with a NO COST, easy online form that you can go to,
enter the data, print it out, and put it in your purse or wallet. You will find
this at www.chamberlainfp.com/ERcard.
On the form is also a place to indicate that you have an Advanced Healthcare
Directive and the HIPAA health information release form.
The Advanced Healthcare Directive authorizes whomever you have selected to make
your health care wishes known at a time when you can no longer do so. It will
also list the types of procedures and testing that you may or may not want done.
The HIPAA release form will provide the authorization for your family and other
trusted individuals to access the information necessary to complete your health
insurance paperwork. If you do not have these documents, you should immediately
contact your attorney to get them.
Do yourself and your family a favor. Complete the form, and put it in your wallet
right now. If you do not have a computer, tear this article out, and talk to
a friend or family member who does have a computer. Get them to do it for you.
You would be doing your friends a favor by advising them about this free service,
as well.
Michael Chamberlain is a Calif. Registered Investment Advisor. Send your questions
to him at mike@chamberlainfp.com or
call (800) 347-1340.
This page and its contents ©2012 Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
