Goods for Giving DYO Bracelets
I’m a diabetic. Because of my diabetes, I feel it is important for me to have some medical identification on my person at all times in case I am unable to communicate with people or paramedics trying to help me.
A few years ago I purchased a super trendy looking leather medical bracelet from a company in California called Lifewear, Inc.
I love this bracelet and continue to use it to this day. It looks cool, but has the important information and visibility on my wrist so I feel it would be helpful to paramedics treating me should I be unconscious or unresponsive due to severe hypoglycemia. The only downside of this bracelet is perhaps its formality. The leather bracelet is rather large and isn’t something I would want to wear while being active. Because of this, I decided to seek out another bracelet I could wear while at the gym or doing one of the many other active things I like to do. (What you didn’t know I also enjoyed kayaking, walking dogs and riding my motorcycle?)
In my mind I kept thinking, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a Livestrong® type bracelet with my medical information on it?”
Seems like other people have thought the same thing as I discovered a website (via my girlfriend Nicole) called Goods for Giving, that sold just such a bracelet. They offer several pre-designed medical bracelets that have generic condition info like Diabetic, Asthma, Seizures, but they also offer a Design Your Own (DYO) option to put whatever text you want. I chose to create one of these bracelets with Insulin Dependent Diabetic on one side and an In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact number on the other. The ordering process was very simple and I received the package a few days later, delivered via UPS. I snapped a picture of it the day I got it, and it looked like this.
Nice and clean looking. Had all the vital information a paramedic or person helping me would need. If only it still looked like that. About a week in I started to notice some white on the top and bottom of the bracelet. The blue color had started to fade. As the days when on the lettering started to blur. I’m now just over two weeks out and this is what it looks like now.
I was somewhat disappointed to see the quality of the bracelet deteriorate so quickly and went back to the Goods for Giving website to see if they had knew about the problems with this type of bracelet. I apparently failed to see this disclaimer on the product page.
DISCLAIMER: The outside color fades over time and will vary by user. Getting them wet repeatedly shortens their lifespan. We do not offer any refund if or when the color fades.
Because I really failed to notice this disclaimer I can’t really complain about the product as Goods for Giving clearly is aware of how quickly and badly these bracelets fade. I did buy it specifically for being active, so I wore it while working out, showering, and basically everything else. I just want to put this information out there so others are aware before ordering this bracelet from this company.
Because I now need a new bracelet I turned back to the interwebs in search of a new more durable medical alert bracelet. A few Google searches and a link from my friend Jenna via my girlfriend gave me Road ID. Now this is the bracelet I’ve been looking for. The Road ID Elite bracelet is stylish enough and practical enough to perfectly fit my needs. Road ID even offers two kinds of bracelets. The Original that lets you customize up to 7 lines of text, or an Interactive one that gives you the ability to set up a My Road ID profile with a phone number and website tied to your bracelet for medical professionals to look up and have a complete look at all your medical conditions and contacts. I decided to go with the original bracelet as I felt having the information on my bracelet available immeadiately to those who were helping me was a better idea than relying on the phone number/website. That’s not to say I don’t think it’s a great idea. It just isn’t for me. I plan on including two ICE contacts and my medical condition as well as my antibiotic allergies.
They were unfortunately out of the black color until March, so I’ll have to wait until they get back into stock, but I’m pretty sure the laser engraving on this bracelet won’t discolor.
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