How to prove you have a medical aid when you cannot talk..

creativeberry — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 12:42:25 +0000

I was recently asked by a sports person as to how an ambulance or private hospital will know if you have medical aid if you cannot speak for yourself. I’ll try and give a few pointers as to carry your medical aid info without having to have your card / ID on you.
While it stays advisable to always have some form of ID/drivers license on you, there is a way to prove to either a private ambulance or private hospital that you are a fully paid up member – even if you cannot talk for yourself.

Most ambulance personnel are trained to check your phone for ID, contact information and to get an idea if you do have medical aid. They swipe your locked screen and access the ICE Medical ID page to assert this.

Please click on THIS SITE for more information as to how to put a ICE contact and other info on your locked screen.
I would suggest to keep a scan of both your ID and medical aid card in an email or if you’re tech savvy to keep it in a cloud account (like Dropbox/Box, etc) so that you can email this to the relevant person the moment you wake up.

Please check with your medical aid if they have an app that makes this process even quicker….
Remember this can save your life!
Stay safe people!

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Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

creativeberry — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:28:57 +0000

As many of the parents in our vicinity can atest, there has been an increase in the amount of Hand-Foot-and-Mouth disease (HFMD) cases around our hospital.
We’ve had many children in our unit with rashes and with our recent spate of measles outbreak it has been difficult to find the cause of the rash sometimes.
Luckily most viral infections are self-limiting, but parents should educate themselves about the causes of rashes, but more importantly the major complications of measles. Please take a minute to read the WHO advice regarding measles.

More information regarding HFMD can be found here.
The disease is caused by an enterovirus, spread through droplets (coughing, sneezing) or stool.
There is normally a viral phase 3-6 days before the rash.

The rash is characteristically on the hands, feet, inside the mouth and sometimes on the buttocks. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of Wikipedia there are some good pictures here.

There is very little treatment necessary for HFMD. Keep your child comfortable, give Panado/Ponstan or Panado/Nurofen and some cold fluids. Calamine lotion can sometimes help to relieve the itchiness of the rash.

Currently we are more concerned by the measles outbreak, but this is a reminder of other diseases that can present the with some of the same symptoms and signs.

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How to prove you have a medical aid when you cannot talk..

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease