The Rumor About LiveStrong Bracelets

image A lot of people lately are wearing those yellow LiveStrong bracelets that help support the Lance Armstrong Foundation's efforts to fund cancer research. But the rumor going around is that if you do wear one of them, you better hope that you don't get into an accident and end up at the hospital, because the bracelets look exactly like the yellow wristbands that hospitals place on 'Do Not Resuscitate' patients. Apparently there is some truth to the rumor. Some hospitals do place yellow wristbands on DNR patients. However no one has ever been left to die because of a mix-up involving a LiveStrong bracelet and a DNR band. Nevertheless, some hospitals reportedly are taping over LiveStrong bracelets, just to be safe.

Health/Medicine

Posted on Sun Mar 13, 2005



Comments

Meh... I'd like to think that hospital personell would be careful enough to take the half second required to actually check the bands, given something so serious...

"Crap, she's flatlining! Get the.. wait, is that..? *tugtug* Ok, it's a LiveStrong, fire up the paddles.*
Posted by Bobcat  on  Sun Mar 13, 2005  at  11:56 PM
Taping over the bracelets?
Why don't they just take them off??

I don't know haw many hospitals use the color code described, but it's definitely not standard.
Of the several people I've known who most definitely were hopitalized with "Do not resuscitate" orders, none had yellow bracelets put on them by the hospital.
Posted by Big Gary C  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  01:19 AM
I agree, removing them is the only solution if this is actually a problem. It's not like a wedding ring or other piece of jewelry that has a sentimental attachment, it's RUBBER and sells 10 for $10.

And the people in the emergency room who see these on a patient who is just brought in should know that the average person, and even the un-average person, does not go around wearing one of these.
Apparently these DNR bracelets are hospital issue, so there should never be an emergency room patient who is wearing one of the actual DNR bracelets.

At least that would be my guess.
Posted by Rod  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  02:01 AM
Of the hospitals that I've worked in, yellow has always been indicative of a "fall hazard" patient, NOT a DNR. Plus, unless a family member is present in the ER to say that a person is a full DNR (yes there are grades of DNR - Shock only, CPR only, Intubation only, Medications only or any combination of the four) the staff is more than likely going to resuscitate first and find the bracelet/necklace/whatever later anyway. In other words, somebody made this rumor up to scare people.
Posted by Nymph  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  03:54 AM
Nymph, you should read the article. It explains that different hospitals in the same area use different color codes for the hospital-issued bracelets.

"The hospitals, all associated with BayCare Health Systems, use the same color codes. Purple means the patient is at risk of falling down; red means the patient has allergies; and white is an identification bracelet.

Tampa General Hospital uses purple, not yellow, to identify people who don't want to be resuscitated. But hospital spokeswoman Ellen Fiss said she sympathizes with those who use yellow DNR bracelets."

This begs the question of why there isn't a standard across all hospitals, of course.
Posted by cvirtue  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  05:26 AM
I also saw on the news that there are lots of 'fake' Live Strong bracelets that don't have any of the proceeds donated to cancer.

Also, the Live Strong organization is FOR PROFIT, so not all the proceeds go to cancer research anyways.

I got one of these things for Christmas from my college-student brother (he apparently bought a whole box of them.) For a while I used it as a cat collar but then the cat got too big.
Posted by Katey  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  07:09 AM
Whether or not something is a "non-profit" isn't necessarily indicative of how much of what they take in goes to a particular cause. You need to read their articles of incorporation and their balance sheet to find that out.

I wouldn't be surprised at all that there are counterfeit ones out there, just as 99% of the "support the troops" sticker packages make no promises of any money going to support the troops.
Posted by cvirtue  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  07:34 AM
I've seen loads of Live Strong knockoffs in dollar stores. Some of them have some amusing Engrish on them.
Posted by Laser Potato, supporting our troops with cheap pla  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  08:37 AM
...Yay! That's my newspaper. I had heard about this, and volunteered in a hospital that used DNR bracelets, but they really only went on patients going into surgery...or things like that. If you came in to get a toenail removed you didn't get one...b/c it would be assumed that there would be no complications. If you were having a bypass...you'd have one during surgery, maybe recovery...but unlikely.

High risk patients...on the verge of death...might have them on, but for the duration of a routine hospital stay...patients didn't normally have a plethora of bracelets on their arms.
Posted by Maegan  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  08:50 AM
Ironically, there was a big news story on the counterfeit bracelets just last night over here. 😊 So it contains the perfect answer to this problem at hand: just buy the colorful knockoffs. If you're wearing a lilac Livestrong bracelet, for instance, they won't confuse it with the resuscitation ones 😉
Posted by Sarah  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  08:58 AM
The Korean-American doctor who performed ny vasectomy was named Dr. Saw. Just before the operation, I asked him: "Yer first name ain't Rusty, is it?"
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  03:38 PM
okay, I just figured it out- The Livestrong thing goes on your wrist...
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  03:40 PM
I see now that it sys: "Wristband" in the article, but I have a Livestrong thing here in front of me... It's only 2in wide, so I thought... nevermind
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  03:42 PM
Katey: The Lance Armstrong Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Austin, Texas
Posted by Jim  on  Mon Mar 14, 2005  at  04:01 PM
As an aside, if you ever want to check out the stats on your favorite charities I use Chrity Navigator: http://www.charitynavigator.org/

It's a pretty good resource.
Posted by winona  on  Tue Mar 15, 2005  at  10:12 AM
I don't understand how an ER staff can determine that a person is has a DNR order based on a bracelet. My doctor told me in order to follow through on a DNR order there would have to be a legal document in my file. So, if there is no document how can staff say that a person wearing a Lance Armstrong bracelet has a DNR order? Also, I thought that medical staff had to cut off all items that may limit a medical persons treatment including clothing and jewelery, so why are these bracelets being "taped" on if they run the risk of interfering with medical treatment.
Posted by Aimee  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  10:27 AM
:]
Posted by aaron  on  Sun Apr 03, 2005  at  12:27 PM
wake up and all get a life!! and don't worry about what you cant control
Posted by J.Harpe  on  Wed Apr 13, 2005  at  10:45 AM
:) 😊
Posted by anonomous  on  Sat Jun 04, 2005  at  04:59 AM
i also heard those rubber bracelets are made in sweatshops, is it true?
Posted by Eva  on  Thu Feb 09, 2006  at  08:23 PM
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