No Child Without: Canadian MedicAlert Foundation

Recently, quite by accident, I came across this wonderful program called No Child Without.  No Child Without is a FREE service for school aged children who have a medical condition or special need that has to be shared with medical personnel in the event of an emergency. This is done by wearing a special piece of jewelry that contains your information. There are a lot of companies out there that sell medical identification jewelry, but this amazing program comes from the one and only Canadian MedicAlert Foundation. The big thing that separates MedicAlert from the competition is how it helps in an emergency.  Your MedicAlert identification item ( bracelet, watch, necklace etc) includes not only your issue and instructions, for example “Allergic to Nuts, Give Epi Pen”, but also your MedicAlert ID number, and the 24-hour Emergency Hotline for first responders to call.

When my son William started school in the fall, among my concerns for him was the fact that no one would remember he has life threatening food allergies.  My fears were warranted as there were over 90 children in the kindergarten classes.  One little voice would not always be heard above the rest. I researched all the different types of bracelets I could find and finally settled on one that would suit a little boy.  At over $60.00 it was not cheap, but I felt it would serve the purpose just fine. It didn’t take long before the medical alert information tag went missing, leaving us with just a cute bug patterned bracelet for William to play with. Now what was I going to do?

I talked to many parents of children with food allergies about what age it is appropriate for a child to wear a bracelet. Some thought they were too young at age four and others had bracelets for their two years olds.  It really came down to personal choice. After one too many times learning about “near misses” at school in which William was put in harms way, I decided to revisit the whole medical identification scene. Maybe having a shiny, jangling bracelet on his arm everyday would make people take notice. By the grace of God I found out about No Child Without.

After checking out the website for No Child Without, and confirming our school was on the list of participants (over 6000 schools across Canada have signed on) I contacted the secretary.  The schools have been supplied with the official brochure for No Child Without and each one has a special code on it.  You need this brochure and code before registering. I have to say I was not at all surprised that my school was only vaguely aware of the program and did NOT have any brochures on hand.  Seriously? A free program that could save a child’s life and you don’t have any on hand? This should have been provided to parents during our child’s orientation last year! It truly frightens me with the lack of awareness today.

Moving forward we finally received our brochure and from there it is pretty easy to register.  Children between the ages of 4 and 14 who have a medical condition like asthma, allergies, diabetes, epilepsy and so on, all qualify for either a free bracelet, sports band or necklace. The item will be custom engraved and has the easily identifiable MedicAlert emblem on it. Enrollment also ensures your child’s medical information is on file with MedicAlert’s 24 Hour Emergency Hotline. Parent’s have access to a secure online record that you can update at any time so your child’s medical history is always accurate.

I definitely feel more confidant that William’s allergies will be paid attention to, especially when he is at places like daycare or school, because of his MedicAlert bracelet. I would never rely just on a piece of identification to keep William safe, but it certainly helps. The best part is that the No Child Without program means that every school age child who needs one should be able to get a MedicAlert item, whether you can afford it or not.  If your child’s school does not participate ( you can check that out here) then contact them and let them know how important this program is because no child should be without.

Did you know that MedicAlert ID’s are used for more then just food allergies and asthma? Check out this list to see if your child would benefit from MedicAlert.

FT&PD

Suz