Medic Alert Foundation launches 'Make Yourself Known' national campaign

Australia Medic Alert Foundation has launched its ‘Make Yourself Known’ education campaign as part of its efforts to encourage Australians who suffer from a range of potentially life-threatening medical conditions to be proactive and better protect themselves.

Medic Alert Foundation Chairperson, Ms Margaret Gehrig, said the education campaign is to be rolled out across the nation, and will draw on a mix of television advertising, online activity and use of social media to remind people of the life-saving membership benefits with the leading not-for-profit organisation.

“More than 160,000 people from across Australia have chosen to become a Medic Alert member as part of their own personal risk-management strategy, but it is estimated that as many as one in every three Australians have some type of medical condition or special needs where they could also benefit from being a member,” Ms Gehrig said.

“We are regularly contacted by people who tell us that their Medic Alert membership helped them or a loved one when it was most needed, and other times it is someone with a serious medical issue that decides to join because a ‘near-miss’ has motivated them to better protect themselves,” she said.

“There are varied reasons why someone chooses to become a Medic Alert member, such as having a heart condition, severe asthma, a life-threatening allergy to a commonly used drug or food, a medical condition such as haemophilia or a loved one that suffers from memory loss  or dementia.”

“Emergency services around the world are trained to look on the wrist or neck for our internationally recognised symbol, with the emblem designed so it does not have to be removed in an emergency to read the life-saving information engraved on the back.”

Ms Gehrig said that being a Medic Alert member offered peace of mind and provided people with the freedom to live their lives to the fullest, knowing their important medical information is readily available if they can’t speak for themselves during an emergency.

About Medic Alert Foundation

For over 40 years, Australia Medic Alert Foundation has been the Nation’s only not-for-profit organisation providing a 24/7 personal medical emergency information and identification service, with close to 300,000 members joining since 1971.

Medic Alert members wear a bracelet or necklace with a genuine Medic Alert emblem custom engraved with their vital medical information, membership number and hotline number.

The 24/7 hotline allows emergency service personnel and healthcare professionals to access important additional medical and other details quickly and efficiently in a time of need.