I’m angrier than the devil without a pitchfork, because I didn’t find this company sooner. I speak specifically of a company makes medical jewelry. I am focusing on their New York State Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) bracelets. To get started, you may wish to read the section on my website that I’ve devoted to DNR and Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST).
As my frequent readers know, I have, over the past couple of weeks, made all the arrangements needed to have a DNR filed within the state. I have all the necessary paperwork that I must keep on my person at all times when I am away from home. Up until now, I’ve been wearing a DNR necklace, which should alert first responders to look in my back pocket. But the law doesn’t address necklaces, just bracelets.
Given that necklaces are not addressed, I went on a mission to find one of those and after a brief search, I found a company called StickyJ Medical, a company that, as the name implies, sells medical bracelets. They were the only company that I found that specifically states that their bracelets comply with state law. By the way, the formal name of the company is Sticky Jewelry.
After some research on my part, their compliance turned out to be true. Another check of the competition found that none of them were completely compliant, meaning that first responders could, in theory, disregard my lawfully obtained DNR Order if I have one of their bracelets.
Now, I have a legally binding medical order on my person at all times away from home and a bracelet that must be observed.
I didn’t go it alone. I found an organization out of New York City that specializes in dealing with end-of-life decisions. End of Life Choices has a great deal of experience in this area. One of the representatives helped me ensure that the bracelet that I picked out was compliant and educated me on the proper paperwork and where to have it at all times.
EOLC is currently working on pushing a bill to become law that would legally penalize first responders or other medical professional who ignore a DNR bracelet and the necessary paperwork. All medical attention must cease, even if that means standing there, watching the person die. I’ve walked into this with eyes wide open, and I know what the consequences are.
EOLC seems to be very helpful and knowledgeable in this area and as such, I’m glad that I came across them. They really helped me make sure that I was spending money wisely.
I mentioned that I, for the moment, had a DNR necklace (shown above), and she said that should suffice for now. I did contact area ambulance companies and they said they’d honor a necklace, along with the paperwork, but a few strongly advised that I purchase the bracelet, which costs $29.90 when engraving on the back is performed.
I feel much more comfortable with a bracelet as state law does not in any way address necklaces. Had I had an emergency before the bracelet arrived, it might have been a crap shoot if some renegade wanna-be hero EMT decided he or she wanted to be heroic.
I found the perfect solution and started preparing my order. The process was quite easy, but there is a process. First, you have to choose a size that matches your wrist size. If you don’t know your wrist size off hand, you will need to measure it.
Then, you need to choose an option pertaining to where your DNR Order and (if applicable) your MOLST will be. Will it be in your purse or wallet? Those are the only two choices, so if you don’t have a wallet, make sure that the paperwork is in your back pocket, where one would look for for a wallet. I would suggest that they add options, such as back pocket, pocket, etc.
The options were a problem for me. I don’t carry a traditional wallet, so I would have loved an option to look in my back pocket. But the lack thereof probably has to do with there not being enough room. Shrug.
Moving on, you are given an option to get a wallet card. It is free of charge, so you may as well get it. There’s no such thing as having too little proof of your wishes, especially when it comes to prevent being resuscitated against your will.
You will then be asked for engraving information should you wish to do so. That process is self-explanatory.
Next, you will be asked about shipping information. You will first be asked to estimate shipping. There are several options, most of them by USPS. The cost depends on how impatient you are, really. Shipping ranges from $7.95 to $33.95. You will need to look at how long it’ll take to leave the company. But USPS isn’t your only patient.
If you’re really impatient like I am, you can shell out $39.26. But be aware that that does not mean that you’ll get it overnight. I got so excited over getting it overnight that I didn’t see that it would take two days to leave the company. Oops. You might be financially ahead to just be patient and choose a USPS option and just be patient.
From there, you can check out and choose which option you want. You can pay by debit or credit card, or you can pay by Google Pay or PayPal. You can use PayPal’s installment plan should you so choose. If you go that way, you will pay the full amount, which will drop off in a day or so. You will pay around $17.00 over several installments. I chose to pay it via PayPal, in full.
After all the decisions are made, you’ll submit the order and you’ll receive an emailed acknowledgement that shows all your information: shipping and billing address, details about your order and so forth. That will give you time to contact customer service if you notice a mistake.
So then you wait. In my case, I ordered the bracelet on Monday and was expecting it to arrive tomorrow. It showed up today, a day earlier than I expected, making me even more fond of this company. Although I’m happy that it was a day early, I did not receive an e-mail with my tracking number, so I wasn’t prepared for it to be here today, meaning that I wasn’t outside ensuring that no one helped themselves to my bracelet.
After a day of monitoring the tracking information and the porch for the UPS guy so that porch bandits can’t get it, I finally had it in my very impatient hands. The UPS driver observed my instructions and delivered it to the proper door rather than leaving it on the porch. I happened to be hanging out in front of my apartment, so he handed it directly to me.
So, as you can see to the left (click for a clear view), I got the bracelet all nice and covered as well as the free wallet card.
All in all, I’m impressed. The bracelet is beautiful and compliant. At first, it did not fit, but my wife helped me move it down a couple of rungs and now it works beautifully.
However, it was a pain in the ass to do that, so I’m basically leaving it on at all times rather than fuss with it every morning. My suggestion would be to perhaps have a clasp option, but everything worked out.
Again, I highly recommend this company and I plan to order some more DNR bracelets from them in the very near future as backups. This time, however, I’ll us USPS so that I can send it to my PO box, no waiting around all day necessary. (For a clearer view on the right, simply click on the image)
It is my firm suggestion that if you seek medical jewelry, especially DNR bracelets, this is the place for you. The good thing is that all of their products carry a 90-day warranty, so had it not fit me, they would have made it right. Their customer service representative is responsive and helpful, making the entire process a pleasure.
And yes, I just now noticed that the title of this post works on two levels.