Medical history by microdot

Press, 8 March 1978, Page 2

Medical history by microdot

A new New Zealand export was launched In Christchurch yesterday in the form of a medicalidentification card. The cards will cost 510.50 for an adult and $5.50 for a child, with a cheaper rate for families.

Each card will contain up to seven microdots on which the holder’s medical history is printed. Other personal data such as name, address, and telephone number, with any allergies the bolder may have, will be printed on the card.

The cards are called life-support data cards and are designed to be available for doctors and ambulancemen at the scene of an accident or collapse. Made available by the Group Health Co-operative Society of Cambridge, formerly Group Medicare, the

new cards will be launched in Australia in two months and tn Britain later in the year. More than 1000 doctors throughout New Zealand will be issued with small viewers so they can read the microdots on the cards and ambulance staff will also be issued with the viewers to speed identification and patient care. A foundation for medical charity will run the scheme. The net income from the sale of the cards will be made available to this foundation, which will be known as the Life Support Emergency Health Foundation. Its chairman will be Dr Morgan Fahey, of Christchurch.

Patent rights are held on the cards in every country other than the United States.