I wish I had a Road ID last summer during a rainy century ride. I was riding along when suddenly I slipped on some train tracks going about 22 mph. By the time I was taken to the nearest hospital, I was soaked, filthy, and in mild shock. I carried my medical cards, and other forms of identification, but they had been badly damaged and were illegible. They had to wrap me in blankets and warm me up before they were able to get any info beyond my name. I'm just glad it wasn't worse. (I did get a free hospital T-shirt, a nifty cast and four months of hand rehab out of the deal...)I work in a Level 1 Trauma Center. I am a hospital chaplain and I truly understand the importance of ID. "Mr. X" is a regular customer around here. Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes days to confirm the identity of an injured person. Recently, I was introduced to Road ID when I had 3 patients in one month come into the hospital, each wearing a Road ID. It's a terrible thing to handle a weeping family as the doctor delivers the news of a serious injury (or worse)… but even in the worst case scenario, they are so thankful to be notified immediately. In many ways, you make the product that we buy on our best days for the just-in-case worst day that we hope never happens.
So, I now have a 'Team-in-Training' purple Road ID that I wear every time I go out. I even took it to the hospital for "show and tell". I wanted my colleagues to see how it works and to always look for a Road ID on our incoming patients.
My road ID has been in salt water, sand, lakes, mud, rain, hot weather, and brush, and it is still as clear as the day it arrived in the mail. I'm glad to have it, and I hope I never need to use it!
Note: This photo is of me doing the same ride a year later...this time with my Road ID and thankfully no rain.
- Elizabeth .T from West Hartford, CT
