It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others - De Montaigne
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SAS bloke touts USB drive to store medical data
AN EX-SAS SOLDIER has come up with the idea of using USB Flash drives to store vital medical data such as allergies and essential medications.
Phil Campion, formerly in the SAS thought up the ‘UTag’ while he was serving in Afghanistan after sewing a Flash drive containing his ID into his clothing, just in case the worst happened.
Phil's UTag was disguised as a dog tag and stamped with the SAS symbol of a snake on a staff and marked ICE (“in case of emergency”).
This, Campion thinks, is a good way of letting the emergency services know exactly what medication a soldier needs, meaning that treatment will be more efficient and hopefully aid saving more lives.
Paramedics may already look for the ICE next-of-kin in your mobile phone, but if the phone is locked this can be more of a dead end.
That’s one of the reasons that the USB Flash drive is being touted as the next step.
The UTag does have some password-protected software and is designed to work with all versions of Windows from ME upwards and is also compatible with NHS systems, the Guardian reports. The holder can enter their basic ID, details for two ICE contacts, GP details, their health insurance policy and any further details on individual specific medical conditions.
It is also designed so that only the holder can update the details, yet emergency staff can view all details on a PC.
The UTag weighs in at just 10g andis relatively cheap at £25 and can be easily updated. The information it contains can also be translated iton six main European languages at the click of a mouse.
One problem could be that putting this kind of information on a USB Flash drive not only makes it readily available to medics, but also to anyone else who manages to get hold of it.
The worry is that this information is of extreme importance to the holder, but there is an extra option to add an encryptable folder to store scanned copies of their passport, travel insurance and driving licence this could be the next step in identity fraud as well as medical care. µ
L'Inq
The Guardian
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There are several issues with this that have been brought up - and there are several more people should know.
1. it has been done by several other companies and there is a reason it hasnt taken off
2. for security purposes only critical lifesaving info you are comfortable having exposed, lost and stolen can be made available
3. these usb devises can easily be overlooked, lost or even destroyed in an accident
4. this key information is often needed asap when a computer is not available - such as in the ambulance or at the scene
5. for security reasons many hospitals block access to the usb ports on their computers so this may very well be completely irrevelant as they may not be able to access it in the ER!
I suggest anyone interested in having their emergency medical information available to responders take a look at www.wellalarm.com
it is not perfect but it a substantially better solution.
..with my security hat on, the option of creating an "encrypted area" on the USB Drive means that complacency sets in and then the wrong data can get stored in the wrong area.
I've seen it with "optional" areas on USB Drives..it only takes one bout of "oops, I forgot to log in and store it on the protected area" to create a problem. The less the user has to think about, the more you reduce the risk; the more, the higher.
The answer is fully encrypted stick but that defeats the purpose of being used in case of emergency....
So, the answer is - don't store anything on the USB Drive that you wouldn't want made public so, if it is compromised, you haven't exposed yourself to too much damage. Blood type, allergies, etc...fine (with a few caveats). Passport details and identifiers - think again.
Just my two penneth...
When I was responsible for the responding to emails from a major Insurance company. I came across the same concept being touted by another company...in 2006!
Shame I never saved the email or the name of the company who was offering 128mb (it was 2006) USB drives for the storage of medical info.