What to put on ID tag?
 

I am considering wearing an id plate in case of emergency/accident/what not.

Quick search suggests name + SSN + Blood type. Other infos might be some health condition. Which leaves me wondering...

My impression is that a tag should facilitate positive identification (everywhere in the world) and list emergency contacts. (Is blood type really useful?)

So... Relevant info could be:

1. Name
2. Passeport number
3. Primary emergency contact email + phone
4. Alternate contact email + phone
5. Link to emergency www page

Things you'd remove/add? Including opinions on the merit of such tags.

JMHO:
1. Name (so if you're found unconscious there's somewhere to start)
2. Medical condition, if appropriate. Maybe. Blood thinner? Definitely. Diabetic? EMTs have a quick test strip.
3. Emergency contact + phone.
4. Passport? Are you riding in another country?

Wear an ID Card around your Neck.

This is very likely. I mean, SSN is perhaps a useful identifier in your home country, but not clear to me that it works overseas. Actually, emergency contact(s) are probably the most useful piece of information.

The only people I know that wear tags have diabetes and use insulin. I assume you do not have any medication allergies, if you did that would be the first thing you think of.

I used to camp with someone that had severe allergy to bee stings. A bad sting would have killed him.

I just googled Medical ID Tags, and I got lots of hits for people that sell them. I can't imagine that there would be something that you would want on a tag that is not mentioned on one of the websites for the companies that make tags.

It was interesting that all of the ones I saw when I googled it did not name the country of origin, looks like everyone assumes USA. Make sure yours lists Canada so there is no confusion.

I would not put anything on it that a potential ID thief could use, such as a social security number.

If you get it engraved, keep some space for when you renew a passport and get a new number.

If I was getting one, I would not ask here, I would ask someone that knows. I occasionally bike with a retired ambulance EMT, he is the first one I would ask.

Check out: Road ID. Plenty of options for ID tags.

Best ID as recommended by ER physician: For Cyclists, Runners, Other Sport Enthusiasts

Road ID is expensive if all you want is a tag. They have some enhanced features if you need that, but otherwise military style dog tags can be found much cheaper. Personally mine has just my name and a couple emergency contacts (name and number or just number works). I often go for my morning trail ride without bothering to take any ID so the contact info is important. I probably should carry my drivers license and medicare card, but have not been doing so lately. I tend to take those along with a credit card and a little cash when I am on the road bike or if I am on a trail ride that I drive to.

In any case I figure that the regular ID and I just might be separated so the dog tag just might come in handy even to identify me. Also it may be harder for them to track down family without it.

I wouldn't think you'd need a SS# if riding in the US, just too risky for ID theft. I don't find Road ID to be expensive at all and as shown in the video above a wrist bracelet or dog tag type ID are considered best. My Road ID refers any paramedics or law enforcement to find more information in my seat bag where I have reduced copies of insurance cards and drivers license.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...97a555500a.jpg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4b0b9367ff.jpg

I have a metal dog tag (one actually for dogs) that I wear around my neck whenever I bike. It has my name, my address, my wife's name and phone number, the drugs I take, that I have no known medical allergies, and my medical insurance number.

I don't see any reason to have a SSN or Passport No. on the tag as medical personal will not be able to access that information easily. While a link to a webpage is a good idea, I'm not sure it will help in an emergency. Also, I doubt that doctors would trust someone's dog tag/Road ID for blood type as they have quick tests for such things.

The tag I have I ordered over the web for a few dollars and it came with a chain, though the amount of information I can put on it is limited.

That reminds me the already cheap dog tag was really cheap for more than one. I had one made for my best friend (my dog) as well, even though she is chipped.

My info is on a tag that fits on my Apple watch band. Name, two emergency contacts, "no med allergies." I have an old driver's license in my fanny pack, realizing that it may be lost in an accident.

I am curious. What is an emergency www page?
Email seems less useful as long as phone numbers are kept current.
I agree with whoever said ssn was asking for identity theft (and also of no benefit).
Also I doubt any doctor would trust blood type from the tag. I could be wrong though.
I have considered using a usb flash drive on a chain around the neck with jpegs of all the apropriate ids and insurance stuff, a list of meds, medical history and so on could be included. I nave never done so though. A copy of all the same could also be on the phone.

staehpj1

1. Phone vs email. Not clear to me. Though my behavior is not to answer calls from unknown numbers, whereas emails go through. But, right, we can text phones...
2. Emergency page is a shortened url linked to page that provides additional/editable info. Might provide itinerary, more contacts etc.

Others commented on the price of well known tag manufacturers. (20$). There are fairly similar tags on AliExpress going for just a few $.

Still debating if this is worth doing. I'm not at a stage where I'll wander aimlessly on the streets, and the likelihood of being found unconscious roadside seems quite low...

Yeah, skip the SSN, there is no reason to have that there, and if you lose it... well, not good. If you want an identifier, use your license number if you have one, but it really isn't necessary.

Bloody type is a useful thing to list. Medical issues, allergies, conditions like diabetes, etc. Name, emergency contact...

I saw that recommended before, the dog tag for dogs. It's a great option, and many pet stores, like Petsmart actually have vending machines that make them.

My thought is that if I am on tour my emergency contact (my wife) will answer the phone for mumbers from area codes where I am. Also any emergency or medical staff would likely be calling from a number identifying them as such not a blocked or anonymous number. Also they'd likely be fairly persistant and my wife would be more likely to answer when I am away on a tour in case there was some emergency. Depending on how your emergency contact handles email an email might not be read for a day or might wind up in a spam folder and be missed entirely.

Now, with all this discussion, I am starting to think of getting one too. I have an expired passport card in my handlebar bag with my trail pass. Expired because that is just as good as new for telling them whom I am with a photo that is now over 10 years old.

I would get a cheap tag type one to go either on wrist or around neck. Probably:
.

• Name with middle initial. I do not use the initial day to day, but it is on my records so it is a verification item for identity.
• Birthdate. When I go to my Dr office or anyone else on a medical visit, they always ask birthdate to confirm whom I am, there might be someone else in the community with the same name but I doubt that. There are different common ways to abbreviate dates in different countries, I would say Dec instead of using the number for month and all four digits for year.
• Phone number for in case of emergency. I would probably specify USA with the phone number in case I was in another country. Using a country code number for phone could be confusing, so I would just use the acronym USA.

I have no allergies to meds and no severe allergies. And if I skipped my prescription meds for a few days, nothing bad will happen to me. Meds change over time so I would leave that off. I have diabetes but none of my meds would cause me to go low on blood sugar, so I would leave that off the list. I would not want them to see the word diabetes and fill me full of sugars like they might for someone found unconscious from an insulin overdose, that won't happen to me.

I live in Madison WI. Epic is one of the big medical information computer companies, and they are located about 10 miles from my home, I am sure all medical providers in south Wisconsin use their software. With name and birthdate, they would have all my data if I arrived at a hospital unconscious. If I was in another country, that is where the emergency phone contact comes in.

My PFD for my kayak or canoe, I have an expired drivers license in a pocket on that PFD if I was found face down in a lake somewhere. And both boats have my name and home phone number on them.

Someone mentioned phone or smartwatch above, I just did a quick search, found these links:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/fir...one-is-locked/
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-...es-lock-screen

It never occurred to me to put this stuff on my phone, it is usually off or in airplane mode so it is the last thing I think of. So, decided to put an emergency contact on my phones, and neither of those above articles work for my version of Android. So, that is not going to happen today.

ADDENDUM:

Ordered one today (Mar 5) to attach to my wrist watch band. Included the three lines with my bullet point items listed above. But I now realize that I forgot to use Dec for month, I used birthdate format YYYY-MM-DD. In my case the date can't be confused when the day of the month is greater than 12, so not a problem.

If found please call 1-000-000-0000
Reward

I have a road ID bracelet, has my name, address, allergies and 2 emergency phone numbers. Also a reminder for the medics to not forget my bike. I work for a fire department and medics really don’t need much more info than that.

Not a bad idea. Never heard of anyone putting that on the tag. The military type dog tags may not have the room for it.

I can imagine the bike being left by the side of the road. When I took the ambulance ride I was able to tell the cop on the scene to please take care of my bike and he was happy to. They actually gave my daughter a really hard time when she showed up to pick it up at the police station. She has the same unusual last name as me, knew who I was, and knew about the accident. Still they grilled her. "What color is the bike?" "He has a lot of bikes. I don't know which one he was riding." And on and on... Ultimately she convinced them that very few people had the same last name and one of them knowing that my bike was there and trying to claim it unless I sent them was pretty unlikely. So they finally checked her ID and let her sign for it.

^this.

The *only* reason you need a tag is if you are unconscious, unresponsive, or not able to communicate accurately (i.e. think some level of concussion). So what the tag needs is your name, the phone number of next of kin and some way to get your critical medical information to medical personnel as fast as possible to render life saving aid. After that, there's plenty of time to figure out who you are and the best way to do that is for the medial team to get in touch with your next of kin. Putting all the rest of the ID information like passport, etc.. is pretty much worthless and probably more of a security risk in the event you lose your bracelet/tag.

As a medic/firefighter, it’s nice to know the patients correct info so we can ask them questions to test their levels of consciousness in case of head injuries. Also it’s easier to finish a report not having to wait on the hospital to get info. There’s been lots of times I was given the wrong name and address from a person who had their bell rung.

Interesting comment.

So in your experience: name, date of birth, city+state+country or residence, contact phone and eventual medical conditions would be it, right?

(I'll still add emergency email -- quite often we travel with foreign SIMs such that our usual phone numbers will not be answered and the more reliable way is email).

Yes, allergies is the main medical info. We always check to see if someone’s a diabetic if they are unconscious or loopy in any way.