The problem with medical ID bracelets is that while their presence is informative, their absence is not. That is, no bracelet does not mean the person has no allergies or other medical conditions that could be critical for immediate care.

I think application of RFID has limited value for certain, limited groups. For example, it could positively ID persons incarcerated, and ensure appropriate treatments (medical care, including administration of psychotropic meds is a big issue, even in county-level detention facilities). There are persons who are not fully competent or consistently competent to participate in their own medical care (including reliably wearing a bracelet), or who are not able to cooperate or choose to not cooperate with their care: persons with Alzheimer's, institutionalized mentally-ill and homeless mentally-ill -- just keeping track of who these persons are, what their situations are and what treatments are authorized is a problem (and believe me, we all want some of the people out on the streets to stay on their meds!). RFID could allow soldiers on the battlefield to be definitively identified and tracked through various stages of treatment. In all cases, when the need ceased to exist (i.e., term served, no longer ill, retired from service, etc.), then the RFID should be removed or destroyed in place.

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|| Douglas K. King, Records Manager / Freedom of Information Officer
|| Sedgwick County DIO-Records Management Services
|| Sedgwick County Courthouse / 525 N. Main /  Wichita KS 67203
|| 316.660.9846   FAX 316.660.3274   mailto:[log in to unmask]
||  www.sedgwickcounty.org   "Sedgwick County ... working for you"
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