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Further to our previous posts on the uses of QR codes, many companies are offering Medical ID tags in the form of QR codes. ID card company MyInfo911 have identified that most minors carry little or no ID meaning that if involved in an accident whilst out of the vicinity of their parents, it can be hard to find and access important information including their medical history. It is certainly an interesting idea to carry an ID card containing medical information, particularly if you have a know drug allergy or significant medical history. However, if the medical professional attending an incident doesn’t find the card then this information will not make it. Other companies such as ScanMedQR  are also providing medical QR codes but in the form of wrist bands which may  make the code quicker and easier for someone attending an accident to spot, although they may not be something a child wants to wear 24/7.

Similar QR ID tags are also being promoted for those participating in sports by companies such as Sportstagid. This is a particularly interesting idea for the likes of cyclists/runners/horse rides etc whose sport takes them some distance from their house, often on their own. However, whilst these may be useful for holding you medical information as medics should know what to do with a QR code, they may be less useful for holding other emergency information such as your next of kin details. Should the person who finds you unconscious be the kind of person who still wonders round with a Nokia 3310, there is little hope of them managing to contact your next of kin by means of QR code. For this kind of important information keeping it old school and simply using a “dogtag” such as those available from RoadID may make most sense until you can guarantee that every person wondering the streets knows what to do with a QR code.