Seems a simple question – right? Who are you? Although on the surface it may seem obvious, it is not if you are unconscious or unable to speak. When you are out for a bike ride or a run do you have identification with you? Not just with you – but physically on you? Imagine being in a group of cyclists and an unfortunate accident happens. Bikes and people are everywhere in the road, and perhaps, in the ditch. Help and medical attention arrives and attempts to establish who is who but a few riders don’t have ID physically on their bodies. These new people on the scene won’t know which bike goes with which rider and may not have time to worry about it. The other riders who are OK may or may not know the riders who are down and even if they do, they probably don’t know who should be contacted in case of an emergency much less the phone numbers. Same thing applies to runners – out for a run and something happens which leaves the runner unable to communicate but in need of medical attention. You end up as a John or Jane Doe in the hospital until they figure out who you are. And, you will not be at your choice of hospitals since they didn’t know if you had insurance or not. Scary? You bet!

Now you’re asking, “why is a sports nutrition blog talking about ID?” As someone who likes to be outdoors and has seen too many accidents where people could not be identified or all the contact information was not available, I don’t want this to happen to you or your family. It is scary enough when identification and insurance information are available.

What to do? Get some identification that can be attached to your body. Not your bike. Not your shoe (yes, shoes come off or are taken off and separated from their owner). I’m not talking a microchip, but a dog tag, wrist or ankle ID from RoadID or another similar product. You wear the dog tag around your neck and it has your name, contact name, phone numbers and whatever else you want to include that will fit on it. I have one for my running shoes that I like, but just ordered a dog tag for myself. Better to be prepared than be called “Jane Doe.”

If you carry a cell phone there are a couple of other steps you can take (just in case they figure out which bike is yours and find the cell phone in the bag under the seat). Include an entry for “ICE” which stands for “In Case of Emergency.” I’ve heard that if something happens (like a car accident) and they find your cell phone, the emergency personnel will look for an ICE entry. Also, store your husband as “Husband” rather than “John.” How will they know “John” is your husband if you don’t tell them?

Am I sounding paranoid? I don’t want to. But, I also don’t want anyone who reads this blog to end up without a name in a hospital somewhere. Go and check out the RoadID site (www.roadid.com) and see what they have. Program your phone with an ICE number and some identifier of who should be called in case of an emergency. Better to be safe than sorry.

Stay safe and healthy!
Penny, R.D.

P.S. I passed my Registered Dietitian exam on Thursday, March 9.