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| + | Gunnar Lindenblatt, | ||
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| + | It all started with toothache somewhere in 2005. | ||
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| + | I had already lived in China for several months. | ||
| + | I learned, for example, that Chinese ATM provides English as well. Without any problems I could withdraw money from my credit card. | ||
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| + | One day I woke up with toothache. | ||
| + | I tried to ignore it. | ||
| + | I tried to suppress it with a pain killer. | ||
| + | In the end, I had to give in and went to see a dentist. | ||
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| + | The female dentist I visited was very kind and could speak some English. | ||
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| + | Yet this visit will always stick in my mind: | ||
| + | trying to cope with English and Chinese (both not my mother tongues; I am German) I completely forgot to tell the dentist that Lidocaine doesn’t work for me! | ||
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| + | <WRAP centeralign> | ||
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| + | Well, the dentist found out by herself((For those who do not get it: It was most painful! The dentist switched to Novocaine.)), | ||
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| + | On the street, I saw an ATM again. | ||
| + | Then I thought: “Why there is no international ‘health credit card’ which contains a summary of all important medical information? | ||
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| + | This health card | ||
| + | * should contain all most important medical information. | ||
| + | * English alone for sure is not enough, so it has to show these medical information in different languages. | ||
| + | * It should not involve complicated technology. | ||
| + | * Just make it as easy to use as possible. | ||
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| + | I discussed this with my medical colleagues (I am a medical physicist) and my local and foreign friends in Hangzhou. What we came up with, you can see on the [[: | ||
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| + | The SOS Card shows details to identify the card holder on the front side. | ||
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| + | The reverse side gives a list of all important pre-existing conditions and the life supporting medication with it's general dose in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Thai, and Chinese. | ||
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| + | Why in these languages? | ||
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| + | **English** is the most popular language, but not necessarily spoken by all rescue workers. | ||
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| + | **Chinese** actually is the language with the most speakers in the world. The written language can also be understood by Japanese and Koreans. | ||
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| + | **Spanish** is popular in South America and the south of Europe. | ||
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| + | **French** we can find in Africa and central Europe. | ||
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| + | With **Russian**, | ||
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| + | And **Thai** language covers the south east part of Asia, | ||
| + | covering Thailand, and its neighbours Laos, Cambodia, etc., up to the south of China. | ||
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| + | The SOS card contains the most important medical information for rescuers and doctors. No fuzzy card reader, not even a computer is needed to access this information. | ||
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| + | On the front side there is also an unique user name. Combined with a Card Validation Code, a kind of password, from the reverse side, medical personnel will be able to access a website in even more languages and with more detailed information, | ||
| + | * detailed information on medicine you take, | ||
| + | * your general practitioner’s contacts, | ||
| + | * people who should be informed when you are in need, the so-called ICE((In Case of Emergency)) contacts. | ||
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| + | From the fellowship in Hangzhou the idea spread quickly to other international fellowships | ||
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| + | However, the SOS Card is designed in such a way that every medically trained person can understand it immediately and intuitively. Important only: [[en: | ||