A diabetic was walking along the street the other day, when, without warning, he collapsed unconscious to the sidewalk.
The policeman, who arrived on the scene, didn't know the man had diabetes. And since insulin shock and alcoholic intoxication look much alike to the untrained layman, the police officer was about to cart the hapless fellow to the nearest police station to "sleep it off."
Just in time he spotted the medical warning tag. A round, stainless steel disc, it was attached to a chain around the man's neck. On one side appeared the words, "I am a diabetic." On the reverse side were inscribed the following instructions: "If unconscious put sugar or candy in my mouth."
PECULIAR BEHAVIOR Had the man in question not been wearing the tag, he might have died before the nature of his complaint could be determined. The same is true of an epileptic. Dr. David A. Freedman, associate professor of clinical neurology at the Tulane university medical school, said that during a seizure a person suffering from* epilepsy usually acts in a peculiar manner.
Such peculiar behavior, he explained, is often mistaken for drunkenness, mental unbalance or criminal tendencies. Agaun there is a chance the victim of the seizure may be treated as a criminal instead of as a patient. When a heart patient collapses into unconsciousness following a coronary attack, the medical warning tag aids the doctor in establishing a quick diagnosis.
The heart patient's tag should also include instructions, since there are many forms of heart ailments.
SAVES LIVES A man suffering from coronary thrombosis, for instance, has probably been taking anticoagulant drugs to prevent blood clots from forming. So what happens when he is injured in an automobile accident? Well he could bleed to death unless something is done and done fast to counteract the effects of the anticoagulant.
One coronary patient, living in New Orleans, wears a tag bearing the following inscription: "I am a heart patient. I have Vitamin K pills in ray wallet." Vitamin K pills are used to neutralize the effect of anticoagulants.
Then there is the person who is violently allergic to penicillin. Or to tetanus antitoxin. Should such a person become involved in a serious accident, the attend'
ing physician would no doubt order a shot of horse serum to prevent lockjaw. Plus a shot of penicillin to keep the wound from becoming infected.
In either case the result could be disastrous. The patient could go into immediate anaphylaxis shock and die within minutes. Here again medical warning tags are life-savers.
They are particularly important in the case of children, who seldom if ever carry wallets and who, even if conscious, would probably have difficulty explaining the need for caution.
Use of such tags was recently approved by the Orleans Parish Medical Society.
DURABLE TAGS
"What they do is flash an immediate and unmistakable warning to the person aiding the shock victim," explained A. J. Kuhlmann, executive-secretary of the society.
Kuhimann said the tags may be worn on a chain around the neck or on a bracelet. Although some people attach them to key rings, he added, these cannot be spotted as quickly as those on a chain or bracelet,
The tags are made of stainless steel, aren't affected by water, soap, detergent or perspiration, arid won't break, bend, fade or become discolored.
Kuhknann said that the medical society has been commended for its action by deans of the
medical schools in New Orleans,! by the Louisiana Heart Association and by the committee on diabetes.
Dr- William W; Frye, dean of the Louisiana State university medical school, termed the society's action in approving the tags "a fine public service measure."
Said Dr. M. E. Lapham, dean of the Tulane university medical school: ''The use of medical warning tags can be a life-saving measure,
QUICK DIAGNOSIS
"Not infrequently, in medical practice and in hospital work, patients are first seen when they are unconscious," Dr. Lapham| explained. "Under these circum-j stances considerable time may be! required to make a correct diagnosis or to eliminate many conditions that might have caused the actual trouble. The warning \ tag system most assuredly will enable physicians and others to save much valuable time in starting proper medical care and will thereby save many lives which otherwise might be lost."
Use of tjie tags was also lauded by Dr. Homer J Dupuy, past president of the Louisiana Heart Association.
"The tags appreciably assist physicians in establishing a diagnosis sooner," said Dr. Dupuy. "This could aid in instituting prompt treatment which could be life-saving." PHOTO: A. J. Kuhlmann shows life-savers to Miss Jacqueline Monpat, a secretary at Tulane medical school.
