Does anyone NOT use a medical alert bracelet?

My son now 20 has worn his since K, when he was diagnosed. It is part of his body. He uses the plain metal medic alert. I offered him the fancy one but he likes his.
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I'm 22 and I don't usually wear one... I've had the allergy all my life, but my mom never made me wear one growing up. I think when I was in about the fifth grade she bought me a necklace and I wore that until it was beaten to the ground. I have two bracelets now, but I hardly ever wear them. I guess I'm normally around people who know about my PA so I don't feel the need to.

I would suggest it for school though, especially for preschool. My friend's son is PA and when he started preschool last year she started making him wear his. His first year of preschool he had no problems, but this summer, during camp, he had a reaction on a field trip... One of the parent chaperones was smart enough to look at the bracelet and understood immediately what was wrong and gave him the epi-pen and called 911. Apparently, the chaperones were never told before the trip which kids had allergies and what allergies they had. They were just given two epi-pens and told, "a few of the kids have food and insect allergies so make sure you carry these along." So without the bracelet who knows what would have happened.

I've never worn one.

I haven't purchased one for my 2 year old, basically because she is with me, my husband or my mom at all times. When she enters preschool, I will definitely buy one for her because she will be out of my control. I hate to put a "label" on her, but it would be for her own safety.

I got one for my dd at 2 1/2. It is always on. If she is with me and we are in a car accident and I am unconscious, I did not want some well intentioned person giving her food. There are just too many unexpected scenarios where someone could give your child food.

I am 22 years old and just started wearing one last year even though I have been anaphylaxis to peanuts since I was 13. I went to see my doctor for a physical last year and she asked if I had a medical alert bracelet and I said no. She then told me a story about her neighbor.

He was also allergic to peanuts and was in New York City. He decided to eat a veggie burger (I think) or something else off the streets of the city and then passed out. He was not wearing a medic alert bracelet and being in New York, the EMTs thought it was an overdose to drugs. No one thought it was an allergic reaction. Unfortunetly by the time they realized it was an allergic reaction and administered an epi pen it was too late and he had passed away.

Needless to say, I went home and ordered a bracelet. The first few weeks I felt like I was wearing a dog tag. However, now I don't even notice it. I wear it with the tag upside down so it just looks like a chain bracelet. I took it off only once for my cousin's bar mitzvah when I was surrounded by family who all know about my allergy.

I think if your child is not with you they should definately have one. I have seen alot of children wear them just for ID purposes not much for food allergies. I think it is a great idea though.

I didn't get my DD's bracelet until she started preschool at 4 yrs. old. I felt the same way, that she was always with me. But then someone suggested to me to get it anyway because if she ever got separated from you (i.e. car accident, lost) it would identify her and also if she couldn't speak clearly, it would let police or medical personnel of her allergy, and they wouldn't offer her any food.

I also feel that it reminds teachers of how serious her allergy is.

She's had it on every since. Had it resized just recently. One summer day, when it was really hot and your body swells a little, I took it off her, as it seemed really tight. She said it felt weird without it and wanted me to put it right back on. She's so used to it.

I got one for my DS when he started preschool (he was four). He doesn't wear it all the time, mainly because I got him one of the sport bands and he hates it when it gets wet and/or dirty. Next one I get him is going to be the basic metal bracelet type, so has no excuses for taking it off.

I got one for dd, and I have her wear it on field trips or to parks where we may be separated. I plan to have her wear it to school in the fall. She takes it off alot and that is a problem. That is where we ended up not using it all the time. becca

My ds wears one. We got it about a year ago after he managed to escape from a friend's house and we found him by the street....Talk about bad mommy feelings! Honestly I was more worried while we were looking that someone would give him a glass of milk and a pb&j (which may be warped!) but that's what was flashing through my mind.

I agree with the others, it's important to have for school. He also knows what it says and it's a way for him to tell others about his allergy. He actually likes it, and he's proud that he can say what's on it.

HTH, Meg

I have been meaning to get one for ds for years, but haven't. It seems every time I get the order form and am ready to get one, his health stutus changes (he has various other health issues as well). At this point, I am almost afraid to think about it again--what next?

We got one for ds when he was 20 months old and had an anaphylactic reaction. We were told his allergy was "that bad" and had no idea how serious it was.

He's been wearing one ever since and he is almost 4. We've had the stainless steel one and a sportsband one. Right now he wears a stainless steel bracelet.

DS, who is 7, has never worn one, although DH and I have talked about it.

And this summer, we had definitely planned on getting him one after talking with the lifeguard director at the Y. I asked her about the lifeguards snacking on peanut products and then having to give MTM to my child. She said they look for medic alert bracelets and someone who'd eaten peanut products wouldn't give him MTM if she or he saw that DS is PA. Of course, what I didn't do is press further and ask if they really, really understood what that meant--if they would even understand that they'd eaten a peanut product and if they had would they have the presence of mind to not give MTM. Basically, DH or I are there at the Y watching DS swim, no matter what and wouldn't count on the lifeguards to make that judgement call.

Well, I started working FT in mid-June, and we don't go to the pool every day anymore. So we never ordered one.

We probably will, and we'll order a cool looking one. And DS will probably like wearing it because he likes those rubber bracelets that are so popular. But frankly, we hadn't ordered one for DS because he's always been very, very verbal. He's rules oriented and doesn't accept food without reading the label and even so doesn't eat it if it's suspicious. And he's always with someone who is fully versed in his PA and how to handle it.

And he's not needed another thing to single him out.

He's a sweet boy, who wasn't exposed to a lot of the crud on TV at an age when other boys were, and he doesn't have a lot of the cultural reference points that the other boys have. He's also quite gifted and has a hard time relating to the other boys. No, it's the others who have a hard time relating to him. His teachers have told me that they don't understand him. He feels left out, and I feel bad for him, because I feel we helped create this by not turning on anything other than PBS and I don't know--just by doing everything. He sticks out, and the peanut allergy only adds to that. In a big way. So I've been hesitant to buy him the bracelet.

Most of you who have responded to this thread have younger children or are adults with PA. I can understand your reasoning.

But I guess I haven't bought DS a bracelet because he's been safe without one and I didn't want him to stick out any more than he already does.

When our son entered school we got him a bracelet. Up till then he was always with me and we didn't feel the need to get one. I think it is important just so others will know what is going on with him if he becomes exposed.

Pam

Wow, I stepped away for a day and couldn't believe the amount of responses...this is great! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

I do plan on getting my ds a medical alert bracelet, but I have definitely been dragging my feet. I can definitely relate to what McCobbre says because I really don't want my ds to stick out. He's very delayed in speech and I'm hoping that kids will treat him ok with that. I just want him to feel 'normal' at school.

And I've definitely thought about the many 'what if's' that others have posted, so I do know it's the right thing to do.

We have an appt with the allergist this week and will find out his most recent RAST scores...I'll order the bracelet if the results come back positive again.

Thanks for everyone's response...I'm looking forward to reading more of them! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]