What Goes in Health

Created by IronClad Family Support, Modified on Tue, Jul 28 at 11:11 AM by IronClad Family Support

Health is the category that earns its place before anything ever goes wrong. An allergy a paramedic needs to know in the next ninety seconds, the medications that can't safely be mixed, who steps in for a parent you're caring for — this is information measured in minutes, not months.

Six subcategories live under Health. Add a record for each person you're recording — yourself, each family member, anyone in your care.

New to how the forms work — required fields, reminder dates, attachments? Start with Understanding the Forms.

Medical insurance

One record per plan.

Carrier (required)
Member ID and group number
Plan type — PPO, HMO, EPO, HDHP, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid
Renewal / open enrollment date (drives reminders)

Add this even when everyone's healthy. It's the first thing a hospital asks for at admission, and it links to your emergency wallet card — so whoever's standing at the desk isn't phoning around for the member ID while someone's being treated.

Medical history & medications

One record per family member.

Who is this for? (required)
Blood type
Ongoing conditions or diagnoses
Current medications and dosages
Allergies
Primary doctor and specialists
Review date (drives reminders)

Allergies and current medications are the two that change treatment on the spot: an emergency team giving care to someone who can't speak needs to know what they're allergic to and what they're already taking — some combinations are dangerous, and an unknown allergy can turn a routine treatment into a crisis. Keep these current. Set the review date so a medication list from two years ago doesn't quietly become the one a doctor relies on.

Emergency wallet card

A short record that becomes the physical card in your wallet — the version a stranger reads in a bad ten minutes. One per person who carries one.

Card holder (required)
Blood type
Critical allergies — the ones that change treatment
Emergency contact
Linked medical insurance — pulls in the carrier and member ID from your insurance record

This is your health information at its most time-critical: the card rides in a wallet and is read by a first responder who has never met you and has no other way to know your blood type, your allergies, or who to call. Keep the record accurate, and order a fresh card whenever it changes — an out-of-date card is worse than none, because it's trusted.

The card and its QR-verified directive access have their own full article: How the Emergency Wallet Card Works.

Pets

One record per animal.

Pet's name (required), type of animal
Who should care for them if you couldn't?
Veterinarian
Medications or medical needs
Feeding, routine, and care instructions
Microchip / ID number

Ask the guardian before you name them: taking on an animal is a real commitment, and a pet whose designated person didn't agree in advance is a pet at risk of ending up in a shelter. Name someone who's said yes, and write down enough about the routine and medical needs that they could step in tomorrow.

Elderly care

For a parent or older relative you help care for. One record per person.

Who is this care for? (required) and your relationship to them
What kind of care do they receive? — in-home, assisted living, nursing home, memory care, adult day care, family caregiver only
Care facility or agency and primary doctor
Key medications and dosages
Roughly what does care cost per month?
Who has power of attorney for them?
What must a caregiver know in an emergency?
Review date (drives reminders)

This record is for the day you're the one who's unavailable: if you're the person managing a parent's care, everything about it — the medications, the doctors, who holds power of attorney, what a caregiver must know — is likely held in your head. Write it down, so someone can step in for you without the care faltering. The emergency-instructions field is the one to fill carefully: it's what a substitute needs in the first hour.

Other

A flexible subcategory for anything health-related that doesn't fit the forms above — a title or description, who issued it, a reference number, and a renewal date if it has one. Give each a clear title so your family knows what it is at a glance.

Understanding the Forms
How the Emergency Wallet Card Works
What Goes in Legal — for health directives and medical power of attorney