i don't have a card...but i do wear a bracelet. i figure if i get hit by a bus and get knocked unconscious, i'd like the ems technicians to know i'm on blood thinners.

I have a little card the size of a cash card... but it's always tucked away in my purse out of site. I doubt if I collapse in the street that the first thing a paramedic will do is look in my purse. Then again, living where I live it wouldn't supprise me actually!!

I have been told I will be on coumadin for life. I have a friend of mine that makes jewelry. She made me a cool bracelet that looks normal and then underneath my wrist is the medical alert. You only see it I turn my wrist up.I think its a good idea and important for emergency personal to know. Besides the blood thinner info it might clue them in quicker if you had another PE while recovering.

Thanks for this post as it reminded me to order a bracelet which I just did.
:~)

d'you know, I think is actually a fab idea. I've just gone and bought one from icegems.co.uk and its lovely, just looks like a normal bracelet :)

Yes, And at a place called The Medicine Shoppe, a small drug store in my area I found band bracelets like the Livestrong kind in red that has medic emblem with Blood thinner on it and they had ones with just about everything else from diabetes to allergic to peanuts, very cool espcially for kids and only $3.00, instead of the high priced you have to order. Judy

I've worn a medical Alert Necklace since I came home from the hospital (June) and I'll continue wearing in until Dec. 4th - my last day of Coumadin YAY! I had my name and the word COUMADIN engraved on the back (it only cost a few dollars to do that). I think it's very important to wear it - you never know!

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Hi Everyone,

You can purchase coumadin medical alert bands, similar to what judithv described in this discussion thread, on eBay. With shipping and handling, it's around $5.

thank you rmb

i got mine on ebay. it was pretty cheap and pretty generic.

Do you need one if you are on lovenox? I came home from the hospital in Aug and I havent been wearing one. I did put a list of my medicine in front of my drivers licence in my wallet. I figured if something happened they would look for my id and find the medicine list. I didnt want to have to wear a bracelet. I don't want it to be noticeable. guess I want to appear normal and healthy lol

ms24-- does it say anything in the patient information sheet recommending an id? Maybe check at your next inr, but I think that it would not be a bad idea to get an inexpensive one anyway.

The one that I found just references coumadin, but there may be some out there that just reference "blood thinner." There are several websites that sell medical alert type jewelry where you could customize. I just did a search on medical alert bracelet.

I'd suggest carrying or wearing something. My INR is always under 2, but I cut my finger on a vegetable peeler, of all things, the other day and it was a tiny cut, but I bled for over an hour and through a few band aids. So that bleeding thing is no joke. If I were in some kind of accident, I'd want someone to be aware.

one option is to buy a bracelet with a flat for engraving that is not a medical bracelet on it's own. If you buy a child bracelet and have a pretty pin you can have the pin made into a clasp opposite the flat so it looks like a bracelet from one side but has the medical info on the flat on the opposite side