About a year ago, I read an article in the news about a man wandering strangely and speaking incoherently on a train. Security kicked him off the train because they assumed by his bizarre behavior that he was drunk. The man went missing. After speaking with his family during a police investigation, they realized that he had diabetes and most likely had been experiencing severe hypoglycemia. He was finally found unconscious the next day and treated. I wasn’t able to find out how his recovery went.

This man’s story is a great example of how totally important it is to wear a MEDIC ALERT!!! Mine actually broke recently, but I had a beautiful silver bracelet that I never took off. It said “Diabetes” on one side and on the other was the bright red Medic symbol. I’ve gotta get a new one! I used to hate having to wearing the first Medic Alert bracelet I got because it was huge and chunky, and nasty neon yellow.

I got the one I loved (because it was simple and silver) at a regular old jewelry store. Most jewelry stores should have a section in their catalogue with Medic Alert options. You can have anything you need engraved onto the shape of pendant you choose, and the Medic symbol on the other side.

The important thing, though, is that you ARE wearing one.

Fortunately, because the people I work with know very well that I have diabetes and they know how to take care of it, I feel very safe at work. But there are so many moments throughout the day when we’re around people who don’t know we have diabetes.

If the man in the news had been wearing a medic alert, the security and police would have known instantly what the main problem was as soon as they found him if they hadn’t already been informed by his family.

If you’re ever in a car accident and you’ve been knocked unconscious, the 911 medics will search for medic alert jewelry on your body and you can bet that diabetes is something they’d absolutely love to know before they begin treating you. If I were in a car accident…I would definitely want this to be one of the first things the medics learned about me! This is also really important because the car accident could have been caused by your very own hypoglycemic episode while you were driving—not an uncommon situation for people with diabetes.

A medic alert is also important if you’re in an organized sport or attending some kind of group fitness classes. Of course, the first thing you should do is let your instructor know you’re diabetic when you begin the class…but if you’re in a large class, whose to say your instructor might forget during the chaos if you were to go into shock in the middle of a workout? Or maybe the instructor is out that day and there’s a substitute and you forgot to explain to them about your diabetes?

Either way, medic alerts were created for a really good reason: your safety. If you can’t stand the ugly bracelets they sell in the back pages of diabetes magazines, go to jewelry shop and ask to look at the medic alerts in their catalogue because they will help you find one that is attractive, professional and informative. A necklace or a bracelet—it doesn’t matter—the important thing is that you’re identifying yourself as a person with diabetes in order to help other people help you during an emergency.