One of our readers wrote in and asked 'How has Filofax helped you in an emergency?'
I know some people that keep detailed medical records and diet information in their Filofax, but what do you record for emergencies in your Filofax?
I have a follow up question to this, what forms would you find useful for recording this information?
I use my personal Aqua Finsbury as my Medical Filofax, with a tabbed section for each member of my family with records of our vaccines, illnesses by date, treatments and meds taken, etc etc. After more than one emergency medical situation here I realized I need to carry this info with me all the time everywhere I go. You can read more about it in these posts:
ReplyDeletehttp://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2011/02/filofax-medical-journal.html
http://www.plannerisms.com/2011/06/what-im-using-update-back-to-filofax.html
In this Filo I keep an Emergency section that has our medical insurance policy numbers, contact numbers and any other med info we need. In my A-Z tabbed section I have all my main contacts, so if we needed to get on the plane to Singapore for emergency medical reasons I could grab this one Filofax and it would have everything I need. I also have a month on two pages calendar where I note medical visits and treatments for each person as a quick reference.
As you can tell, we've been to the doctor a lot since we've been here! Having this reference has also helped a lot when I'm filling out the insurance paperwork for reimbursement. The diagnosis and dates are very helpful to have a record of.
As far as forms go, it would be useful to have a form for insurance policy numbers, address,phone and fax. A form for vaccine name, date given, and date due again would be really useful. A form for weights and dates would be good, I keep lists of those for my kids to know med dosages. A form for doc and dentist visits would be good too with date of visit, symptoms, diagnosis, meds/ treatment, and follow-up.
Some other ideas that come to mind but that I don't currently use: lists of major household inventory in case of fire or natural disaster; bank lockbox mumber; bank, credit card and other financial information. This kind of info would be too sensitive to carry around everywhere, but would be useful in a grab-and-go Filo if you had to leave your house in a hurry.
I don't have children, but I could see this information being useful for pets eg our dogs. I can never remember who's had what jab!
ReplyDeleteI have made a very simple chart to record yearly check up months eg vaccinations, well woman check etc and medical prescription renewal times.Kept in the Filofax.
ReplyDeleteI keep a medical information card at the front of my Filofax, with the title Medical Info written in huge letters.I made it on Big Huge Labs.com- a free non registration site ie needs no fee or log in details. Go to the Badge Maker Section and make your own medical ID for your Filofax, wallet etc. Useful. It includes my medication details and dosages, phone number of my GP at the bottom and dad's contact details, plus an ID photo of me with my name and date of birth. That way, if I ever need to go to A and E, I or a relative can hand the card over and save time. Gosh, I admire Laurie's post here. I tend to keep things a bit simpler, living in the UK and not having children to keep detailed records for. I agree with Laurie here though, if you are part of a bigger family unit, it is handy to write everything down, to remember doc and hospital visits, medications and advice given, and outcomes for any follow up visits.
I have a MyHealth section behind the Myself & I tab to track my medical and dental health (on different pages). Just similar to project support material; notes, appointment calls, etc...
ReplyDeleteI am finishing up a section on "if I die" (or become severely injured) -- sounds morbid but I need my team to know what to do with the clinic if something happens to me. Who to call, which family member to contact, insurance people, etc... Sort of an SOP for that event. All the official stuff can be in the (living) will but we need the basic stuff in the beginning. In those first numbing days, I want to make sure people can just go down the list of actions. There's also a list of things to do (vendors to call, etc..) if I am only severely injured (but not dead).
I have a more detailed version in a text file but am adding a simpler version (without sensitive info) in my planner since that will be more accessible to people than rooting around the USB key looking for an ReadThisIfIDie file.
I have a "Health" tab behind my general "Me" tab in my Malden. I record all my appointments and doctor visits, including what was done/prescribed/etc. I also record any symptoms of illness or injury so I know how long/when recurring issues happen. I don't ever want to go to the doctor with a problem and then not be able to answer when they ask "How long has this been going on?" So I try my best to keep track of any new oddities. I also keep my insurance cards and blood donor card in this section.
ReplyDeleteAlso, because my stepdad has unexplained seizures, I keep a record of his medications and doses in a separate section. He has had more than one seizure at 3 or 4 a.m.- it's comforting to know I can head straight to the hospital without having to look up his medical info.
In my everyday planner, I have a sheet in my "notes" section for my husband's medical information - what he takes, what he's allergic to. For myself, I have a sheet for anything that might currently be going on. So for instance, I currently have a sheet for fall allergies where I write down anything I'm feeling. I will have a separate sheet if something else were to pop up. Once I'm done with those sheets (allergy season ends or I am no longer experiencing whatever I have written down) the sheet gets moved to my "health" section in my Happiness Binder as a reference for how I handled the issue. I have a number of sheets here detailing all past issues (from the last year at this point, since that's when I started it).
ReplyDeleteOn my daily sheets, I write down any medication I took that day (pain reliever, allergy meds, etc.). If I wake up with a sore throat, for example, I will write it on the day first. If it continues, I'll write it down on my sheet in the notes section so I can see everything I did for it in one place.
I also have an Excel spreadsheet as a medical log. Mainly I use this to keep track of all doctor visits, the date, the issue, what was prescribed (if anything) and when I need to return. (If a doctor's visit has to do with a particular issue I'm having, it will be duplicated on my health sheets.) I'll even add general checkups here so I can quickly see when the last time it was that I visited a particular doctor and for what reason.
All of this became necessary last year when I had respiratory infection after respiratory infection, had some tests done, tried many antibiotics and medication, even had ear surgery to alleviate fluid and tinnitus, only to find out that I'm allergic to ragweed, which caused all of these issues. (A year later, I still have the tinnitus and other ear issues.) This year, with all of my past notes, it was very easy to combat any further issues and so far, I've had none. So I thank my Filo for providing all of my necessary information!