What is your emergency plan
 

Yesterday I had to ride to my dad's to borrow his truck, mine is still in the shop and I needed to drop my little one off at school today. I hung out and BS'd with him for an hour or so. I load up the kids and start driving home. I am 1 minute from home and I get frantic text messages telling me to get a hold of my wife because she left her phone at work. I pulled up to the house to her freaking out wondering where I was and that is when it hit me. I have no way for EMS to notify her if I have been seriously hurt in an accident. What do you all use? I have seen Road ID but are there others or are they the best.

As far as stuff like that goes. I printed up a little laminated IN CASE OF EMERGENCY card with my address and my #1 and #2 contacts on it placed in a conspicuous place in my wallet. I'm confident that if EMS has to look in my wallet it'll be one of the first things they see.

hmmm, I remember riding for far more years without a cell phone then I did with one, never had any problems. I once even got into an accident and had to go to the hospital to have my shoulder x-rayed so I called my wife using their in house phone. If your unable to use a phone due to condition the cops will figure out who you are if you put some sort of id information in your saddle bag.

Stop being so worried over forgetting the cell phone. For untold years that's what all cyclists did, and we did so without worry and fret, so stop worrying, you forget your phone just ride and think nothing of it. The more you worry about it the more likely you'll put yourself into a danger. There is such a thing as self fulfilling prophecy, what fears you dwell on can come to past.

Road ID. That's what everyone in the bike club uses, me included.

I have a Road ID but IMO unless you have a medical condition, it's silly to pay that kind of money for an ID. You can get dog tags made online for a few bucks, usually 2 for $10 or something like that.

I actually have had mine made by a company that makes pet tags, I used http://www.loveyourpets.com. I fit everything on those that I have on the Road ID, and it's actually more readable than the Road ID. I don't see any reason to spend $25 or so for a Road ID.

With that many tags I put one on my shoelaces, one around my neck, one on my bike.

Most pet stores have an engraving machine on-site and you can have tags made while you wait.

My DL and VA card are in my wallet; the VA knows how to get hold of whoever needs to know. THIS is in case my phone is broken in any crash.

OP, I'm serious here -- you're thinking about emergency contact plans because your wife forgot her phone at work? Work on HER. SHE caused a panic over nothing.

+1. Not meaning to be sarcastic, but is she a doctor that can assist you? If not, my guess is that you'll be in goods hands if you are with EMS. She'll find out eventually and sometimes slower is better since some people get too upset with this kind of information and can wreck on their way in.

Rode many years with out cell phone. Was lucky. Caller ID for my wife has "wife" after her name to tell EMT's (karma forbid) who to call.

The only reason I even have a phone is that my wife insists on it. It's in my bag somewhere. once a month or so I dig it out and turn it on for a few minutes to clear the spam texts out.

She made me get one after I had 3 flats one night and was an hour late getting home (turned out to be a bad rim strip). I use Virgin Mobile, a $20 phone and $5/month. I do use it a little when I'm on vacation (like maybe 20 minutes and 10 texts on a vacation).

Thanks..... I just ordered 3 sets ! I had to by a second tag with blood type and allergies

might not help if it broken or or cant be found any where. Just a Thought...

No, my wife is not a sawbones, though I'm sure she's thought about sawing some of my bones at one time or another! Because my bike was destroyed and I was at the hospital with an arm in a sling and my clothes torn up with no way home, I thought best she should know I had an accident and to come take me home. Actually there's a bit more to that story but forum boredom may set in.

I've ridden for far more years without a cell phone then I have with one, it's 37 years without and 3 years with, not including the years I was a kid riding without a phone.

After my last post I poked around on LoveYourPets.com and found out that they now do dog tags (military style) and other ID and utility tags besides pet tags, so they're an even better choice. Also the dog tags are engraved stainless steel rather than the stamped thin sheet that some of the other places sell so they're probably exactly or almost exactly what Road ID sells for dog tag style ID anyway.
At $3.50 for engraved stainless it's hard to beat.

My name and address is written on a piece of paper and kept in my saddle bag. Police used it to find my home and notify my wife when I was in an accident.

I keep a waterproof bag in my jersey pocket with a copy of my driver's license and health insurance card, and I also carry my cell phone with an "ICE" number for my wife. My wallet is also in my seatbag while commuting. Can't see a need for a Road ID in my case since I have no special medical needs or problems.

I got a dog tag with her contact information on it. I wear it around my neck with a chain. My trunk bag has a more detailed list, if someone looks they can find my parents, in-laws, sister, doctor, etc. My phone has her and my parents as ICE contacts.

Sounds like where I was 6 months ago (hit by a car, totaled bike, broken clavicle). Called my wife to pick me up after they were done with me at the hospital. Don't know how your having ID on you would help in the situation you described as the problem was that your wife didn't have her phone with her.

I'm not available. I don't always even carry my papers. Oh no.

My plan is to avoid emergencies. If that doesn't pan out, I'm sure they'll find my ID in my wallet.

Same here. I hate the damned cell phone. But my wife wants to be able to reach me. If I'm run over and lying in a ditch, though, she's not who I'd be calling for help. For me, "rescue me" calls are only incoming. If I have my own emergency, I deal with it. I do have a dog tag on my key ring, that also lists my blood type and "no known allergies." But I realize that EMTs won't trust that thing anyway. They'll still type my blood and not assume no allergies. So it's fairly useless. The ID in my wallet will let them know who I am.

For real emergencies, I carry a gun.

I need to fill out that Advance Directive I got from the VA hospital last month ..

That sums it up completely.

Jim

I have a printout with a brief medical history, emergency contact as well as the meds that I'm on that I carry in my first aid kit. I also have an I.C.E. entry on my smartphone, but considering that like most people I use the "lock" feature of my smartphone it really is useless. Which got me to thinking that phones should be programmed with a "master" pattern that first responders can use to unlock any smartphone.

RoadID (or even going to your local pet shop and getting a dog tag) with your info on it is probably not a bad idea. I think that IINM that RoadID now has a service that imprints a URL that first responders can use to pull the information that you want them to have.

I was thinking that what someone could do is to generate a standard bar code, a Qcode, and the MS code print them on both sides of a business card and pretty much do the same thing.

I don't drive so I don't carry a DL, but I do carry my VA ID card, as well as my old GI dog tags.

That's a good point, the wife leaves her phone at home and gets into a "fit" cause she can't get a hold of you? Sounds like she's the one who needs work on things, not the OP.

Brother, is your VA facility a head trauma center? If not you might find yourself being transported to a "civilian" hospital. Even if you've instructed the ambulance crew to take you to the VA facility.