You know things about this person that no chart contains. In an emergency room nobody has time to ask you, and sometimes nobody thinks to. This puts what you know on one page, so it gets read even when you are not being heard.
Step 1 of 2
Build the profile
Fill in what you know. Skip anything that does not apply. A half finished profile is still better than nothing on the worst night of the year.
Nothing you type here is sent anywhere. It stays in your browser.
Who this is for
On a normal day
This is the part hospitals do not have and cannot guess. The word "confused" means nothing to a stranger without knowing what this person is like when they are well.
Hospitals lose these constantly, and a person without their hearing aids looks confused to a stranger.
Two or three sentences, in your words. This is the single most useful thing on the page.
Medical
One per line, with the dose if you know it. If you have a printed list from the pharmacy, bring that too and just write "see attached list" here.
Include reactions that are not true allergies but matter anyway, like a medication that makes them delirious.
Who decides
Naming someone here does not by itself give them legal authority. The document does that. This page tells the team who to look for and where the paperwork is.
Check only what actually exists on paper. Bring the originals or copies with you.
Care team
On purpose, this tool never asks for a member ID, a Social Security number, or an account number. Bring the card. A page that lives on a refrigerator should not carry numbers someone could misuse.
In your own words
This prints in a box at the top of the profile, under your name. It is the part that says a person who knows this patient is standing right here. Write it the way you would say it.
Step 2 of 2
Your documents
Read them over, fix anything that is not right, then download the PDF and print it. Put one on the refrigerator, one in the glove box, and one in the bag that goes to the hospital.
1. Hospital Emergency Profile
The page you hand to whoever is taking the history. Hand it over, say "this is her baseline," and ask that it go in the chart.
2. Wallet card
Cut this out and put it in a wallet, or photograph it. It is what matters most when there is no time for a page.
The square goes on the card.
Any phone camera reads it. The emergency details come up as plain text in about a second, which is faster than anyone can read a page out loud.
It works with no signal. The information is inside the square itself, not on a website. It reads the same in a basement emergency room with no bars and no wifi.
Anyone who picks up this card can read the square. That is the same thing that makes it work when the person cannot speak and no one can ask you. There is no password on it. Put on the card only what you would be willing for a stranger to see, and keep the fuller detail on the printed page you keep at home.
3. Emergency room log
For the hours in the hallway. Write down every name and every time. This is what keeps the story straight across shift changes, and what turns "I told someone" into a record.
Why each piece is there
Want this on a computer so you can print it?
Send yourself a link that reopens this page with everything filled in. Keep that link. When a medication changes, open it, change the one line, and print a fresh copy.
This opens your own email app. Nothing is sent to Nash Patient Advocacy and we store nothing. But what you typed travels inside that link, so that email will sit in your email account like any other message. Treat it the way you would treat a piece of paper with the same information on it.
This profile is too detailed to fit in a plain email link. That is a good problem. Use Gmail, Outlook, or copy the message below instead, and it will all come through.
Nothing happened when you clicked?
That usually means this device has no email app set to open on its own, which is normal if you read mail in a web browser. Any of these will work instead.
If you copy, paste it into a new email to yourself, or into a text message. It works the same way.
The PDF is built on your device. Nothing is uploaded. It carries the Nash Advocacy heading and my contact information on every page, so whoever you hand it to knows where it came from.
Please read this part. This profile is a communication tool. It is not a medical record, a legal document, or a medical order, and it does not by itself give anyone authority to make decisions. It does not replace a Health Care Power of Attorney, a living will, a guardianship order, or a MOST or POST form, and hospital staff will still need to see those. Nothing here is medical or legal advice, it is not a guarantee of any outcome, and using this tool does not make Nash Patient Advocacy your representative or create an advocate-client relationship. Keep the profile current, because an out of date medication list can do harm.
Being talked past in a hospital is not something you have to handle alone
I am Rachel Nash, a Board Certified Patient Advocate. A large part of my work is making sure the person who knows the patient best is actually in the conversation. If that is not happening, reach out. A first conversation costs you nothing.
Nash Patient Advocacy & Consulting, LLC · Rock Hill, SC · serving North and South Carolina rachel@nashadvocacy.com
Please read before you begin
This is an education tool, not advice
This tool gives general education about how to write down a person's health information for an emergency. It is
not legal advice, not medical advice, and not financial advice,
and it is not a guarantee of any outcome.
Rules change and every situation is different. Using this tool
does not make Nash Patient Advocacy & Consulting your representative
and does not create an advocate-client relationship.
Your own paperwork governs. The deadlines, phone numbers, and
instructions printed on your own notice or letter are the ones that count. Confirm
with the number on that paperwork, with the patient's plan, or with 1-800-MEDICARE.
Your privacy. Nothing you type is sent to
Nash Patient Advocacy. We never see it and we store nothing. Everything stays in your
browser, and any PDF is built on your own device.
This works on a computer, a phone, or a tablet. The one thing we cannot control is who is near you while you fill it in. If there are other people around, turn the screen away or wait until you have a private moment.
Nash Patient Advocacy & Consulting, LLC
Rachel Nash, MRC, BCPA · North and South Carolina
