Why carry a medication allergy card
In an emergency, the medical team usually asks whether the patient is allergic to any medication. If you’re unconscious, confused or in too much pain to talk, no one can answer for you. A card in your wallet, next to your ID, answers that question before it even needs to be asked.
It’s useful for anyone allergic to painkillers, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories or contrast dye — and for anyone caring for a child or an older adult with a known allergy.
What a good allergy card shows
- Your full name, exactly as on your ID, so the card is clearly yours.
- The medications by their active ingredient (penicillin, ibuprofen) as well as the brand name. Brand names change from country to country; active ingredients don’t.
- The reaction you had: itching, facial swelling, shortness of breath. It helps the professional judge how serious it is.
- An emergency contact who will pick up the phone and knows your history.
- Your blood type, only if you know it for sure. If you don’t, better to leave it blank: wrong information does more harm than good.
Confirm the list with your doctor. The card records what you know; treatment decisions are always made by the professional caring for you.
Why the QR Code card is better
A handwritten card covers the basics, but it has limits: not much fits, it goes out of date and nobody knows when it was used. SOS Card keeps the printed card in your wallet and adds an online record through a QR Code.
Always up to date
The QR only holds a code. The record it opens is edited from your phone: you started a new medication, found another allergy, changed your number. Whoever scans it tomorrow already sees the new version — no reprinting.
In 3 languages
The record opens in English, Spanish or Portuguese. On a trip, a first responder abroad understands you’re allergic to penicillin without needing a translator.
Family alerts
On the Complete and Family plans, when someone scans the QR, you and the people you authorized get an alert in the app and by email, with the approximate city. If the person scanning allows it, their phone’s location comes through too.
More than allergies, with privacy
The record highlights allergies and shows conditions, medications with doses, implants and contacts. You choose what’s open to anyone and what only someone who identifies as a health professional can see, with a log of who accessed it.