Whether you’re volunteering in a community garden and collapse OR you collapse while working in your own garden, could first responders find the information they need to treat you safely?

I posed that question to a high school friend who is a first responder and he told me that one of the first questions they ask a patient is if they are allergic to any type of medications.

Of course, if the patient is unconscious, the responders need to look elsewhere for that information. If they’re responding in your home they will probably look first on the refrigerator. But what if you’re outside or working in a community garden?

If you have allergies, whether to food, insects or medicines, you should be carrying that information with you and preferably on your person. Medical bracelets have long been used to provide first responders with the medical information they need when treating you.

But today our smart phones can also carry a lot of information — even more than you could ever put on a bracelet or necklace tag. For example, my medical ID on my iPhone has my name, age, sex, blood type, that I am an organ donor, any medical conditions I have, medical notes, allergies and reactions, a list of the medications I take and my blood type as well as my height and weight. Plus it has room for emergency contact information for my husband and other family members as well as my physician.

So today I took a little time to make sure that my medical information on my smartphone was complete and up-to-date and my husband did the same. The smart phones are always with us as they are for so many people these days so we’re letting them work for us in emergencies.

Should you update your medical information? Definitely. Or in the words of the old Nike commercial - Just Do It!