Pacemaker information card

Getting a PM card

by IAN MC - 2017-10-17 04:51:22

Hi Donna    I see you are in the UK too.... welcome to the club !

You should have been given a card with all your PM info before you were discharged from hospital. Perhaps they forgot so I suggest that you ring the cardiology unit,

Failing that , I see from your bio that you have a Boston Scientific PM. Their UK head-office is in Hemel Hempstead  (Tel No.  01442 411600 ). Give them a ring. They willl have all your info on file  and will  post a card to you.

Best of luck

Ian  ( in sunny Bucks )

id card

by Tracey_E - 2017-10-17 09:49:42

In the US they mail it a few weeks later. I have it in my wallet but in 20+ years have needed it exactly twice, and it was government buildings not airports. 

Photocopied Piece of Paper for ID Card

by Shaun - 2017-10-17 12:39:02

The NHS in the UK spend £1000’s implanting a state of the art pacemaker then hand you a photocopied piece of A4 paper that you’re supposed to use as an ID card. The first thing I did was scan mine which was lucky because the original was illegible after going through the washing machine in my trouser pocket. I’m not sure if you can request a more official looking ID card from the pacemaker manufacturer.

Shaun

by IAN MC - 2017-10-17 13:05:56

Even without trying your washing machine test my folded-paper ID document soon fell apart. 

I rung Medtronic in the UK and they sent me a fairly sturdy plastic credit card type of PM  ID card as a  replacement. As Tracey says we hardly ever need them but I did recently go through one airport where they treated me with great suspicion and  insisted on seeing my ID card. ( that was Gran Canaria )  .  The security guy still seemed to think I was a terrorist even after seeing the card , much to my wife's amusement !

Ian

Thanks Ian

by Shaun - 2017-10-17 13:16:32

Would you still have the Medtronic UK phone number? Mine is a Medtronic pacemaker too.

Medtronic Card

by IAN MC - 2017-10-17 13:31:00

Shaun     You need to ring the Medtronic Watford office and speak to the " Office Services Team " .

Their direct line number is 01923 212213

In a covering letter with the plastic card , they did tell me that the paper-based ID card is the European Standard and is the only officially recognised document. They recommended that I carry the paper document as well as the plastic card when travelling , I have never bothered to do this and now rely on the plastc card.

Best of luck

Ian

Pacemaker ID card

by Donnap - 2017-10-17 13:47:13

Thanks everyone, I was discharged with an A4 sheet but as suggested rang Boston Scientific who says the hospital should send you home with an ID card, I've seen some to download so I'll  do that. 

Thank you

d

Donna x

ID Card

by Shaun - 2017-10-17 15:09:20

@Ian - thanks.

@Donna - When the nurse handed me the A4 sheet I asked her about an official pacemaker ID card and she said “This is the NHS, that’s it”.

ID card in hospital

by LondonAndy - 2017-10-17 17:14:34

Hi Donna, and another British welcome too!  

I was given my ID card in hospital - a strip of card hand completed that folds and fits into a credit-card sized wallet, with lots of details.  Separately I was given a 4 page document of "pacemaker insertion and checking information", and like Shaun I scanned both documents in and have had occasion to print both of them out again - I never assume a hospital will have my records, and if I have an appointment somewhere I have a set of medical notes with me, and have been glad of them several times.

I have never been asked for my ID card, including when flying to the Gran Canaria, so I suspect Ian DOES look like a terrorist!

As I have several medical conditions I also have a Medic Alert bracelet - a wrist band, bracelet or necklace that has basic info on the back of a disc, and for an annual subscription people can call a 24 hour number for more info on conditions, medication, next of kin etc.  I have given them copies of all the surgery and pacemaker stuff too.