Saturday, June 27, 2015

Family Vital Records Binder - Week 3

Your assignment for Week 3 is to gather medical information for your family.

NOTE:  Make copies, or use duplicates, of your insurance cards in the binder.  You need the originals for your everyday normal life now.  Likewise with insurance policies.  Keep the original documents in a safe place, like a Safety Deposit Box, and put copies in the binder with a notation with where to find originals.



I used a business card style page protector for the contact information for doctors, dentists and veterinarians (my dogs are my kids - definitely an important part of the family and this section is the first place I'd go looking for their medical information!).

My dentist gave me a little grief about getting a copy of my x-rays.  He said they lose their value as a diagnostic tool after about 6 months.  When I explained what this binder was and that including them was for identification purposes, he finally gave them to me.

Also, I did not try to gather up immunization information or medical records from every single doctor I've ever seen.  If you do try, you will likely be better off scanning and saving it to a CD than dealing with that much paper here.  I just wrote out my history as best I could remember and got a photocopy (stamped PHOTOCOPY so it couldn't be used to actually get a prescription) of my medication prescription.  You might also think about including a list of any vitamins or herbal supplements you take since they can affect many medications effectiveness.  I would just photocopy the labels that show the RDA information or pull it off a used up bottle and slip into a sheet protector in this section.

If you have a Living Will, DNR Order or desire to be an organ donor I would include that information here, too.

Outside a widespread disaster, this whole section could be extremely important and helpful if someone else ever needs to make medical decisions for you.  For example, if you are injured in a traffic accident these are details that would help your family and doctors make the best decisions about your care.

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