EN Today: The safety revolution – Ride Safe Bracelets

Kate Samuels reports on Ride Safe Bracelets, a sports medical ID bracelet designed specifically for horse people.

From Kate:

Hold on to your boots, folks, because this is the next big thing. Of course, we here at EN consider it our duty to report the newest and coolest trends in fashion and safety, and Ride Safe Bracelets combine those two for an incredible product. I just ordered mine (one in green, and one in hot pink) and I’m super excited for them to arrive in the mail so that I can sport them all over town and get the trendy “Ride Safe tan line”.

Here’s the scoop: Ride Safe is a sports medical ID bracelet that is designed to be worn all day every day by equestrians on or off the farm working with or around horses. How many people do you know who have been injured while not riding? Accidents are just as common off the horse as on top of one.  In addition, it is also designed to eventually replace the current medical armbands worn in Eventing, to create an easier and more comfortable medical ID.

When an emergency happens, time is critical and the Ride Safe ID bracelet will allow first responders, friends and family immediate access to your secure medical history and contact information to facilitate rapid medical response and therapy.

The genius behind the idea is the combined team of equine vets Dr. Chad Davis and Dr. Stephanie Davis in Virginia. About three years ago, when frangible pins, blow-up vests and new safety regulations for helmets were all coming into play, Chad and Stephanie realized that there was a better way to keep medical information up to date and accessible. EMT’s are trained to automatically search for medical ID bracelets, so why not incorporate something like that into the equestrian community? They have tinkered and engineered for years, trying out different prototypes on themselves for durability and style, and finally settled on the current make, debuting at Rolex this year.

So when you go on the Ride Safe website (and you will…you know you will), you can sign up for your own bracelet really easily. You get to design your bracelet, from color (available in pink, red, black, white, teal, green, blue, navy, orange, yellow, clear) to exactly what you want printed on the nameplate. Each bracelet comes with a metal latch similar to a watch clasp, that will break if extreme pressure is exerted upon it, in case you get it caught on something. On this metal nameplate is your name, where you live, and two to three emergency medical contacts that you decide on. At the bottom is the website, so that first responders know how to access your medical information.

Speaking of all your medical information, the next step is to fill out your medical history on the website. The questionnaire is just like your medical armband, with all the important questions about allergies, blood type, and medications. It also has ample room for other information you might want to include. Best of all, it’s easy to update! How many people do you know who have five-year-old information on their medical armband? I myself have been guilty of the “borrowing another competitor’s armband in order to compete” crime, and I know I’m not the only one.

On the back of the nameplate of your bracelet is a code that first responders use on the website to enter for access to your medical history. This can be easily and quickly accomplished on any phone or computer.

The current model is comfortable, durable and most of all, stylish. In fact, there is currently a “Bling Competition” going on between some of the Ride Safe riders, for who can make their bracelet shine the most with stickable diamonds!

Current Ride Safe riders include (but are not limited to) Skyeler Voss, Lainey Ashker, Rebecca Howard, Jennie Brannigan, Doug Payne, Alison Springer, Stephen Bradley, Buck
Davidson, Sinead Halpin, and Diana Burnett.

Check out their Facebook Page for updates, pictures, and more information. Don’t delay, this could be your chance to bring Ride Safe to your barn, and start your own Safety Revolution!