KidCheck Secure Children's Check-In Medical & Allergy Conditions

We all know how important it is to be keenly aware of allergies or medical conditions for the children in your care. With KidCheck it’s easy to tell if a child has a medical or allergy condition that needs special attention, and at the same time balance privacy concerns for families with special or sensitive needs.

How it works: The child’s name tag is highlighted with reverse type, meaning it is printed using white lettering on a black background instead of the standard black letters on a white background. The allergy or medical condition that was input by the guardian is printed on the name tag.

In the case of sensitive medical issues that the child or guardian would like to keep private, some precautions and additional steps should be considered.

KidCheck includes the option for organizations to turn on or off printing the allergy/medical name on the child’s label, as well as the option to highlight, or not, the name denoting an associated allergy/medical concern. This allows you to still have access to the information associated with the child, but gives parents the peace-of-mind it won’t be prominently displayed on the name badge. When you choose to turn off printing allergy/medical on the name badge “See Medical Information on File” will appear on the tag instead of the allergy/medical specific name. While privacy and being sensitive to family needs is extremely important, it is a key safety element to ensure anyone working with the child is still aware there is an associated allergy/medical condition.

Turning off the printing of the allergy/medical name or not highlighting isn’t always the best solution. Here are some other thoughts and suggestions for consideration as well:

  • Have a dedicated person at your organization that is fully aware of the sensitive medical conditions, associated needs and family requests.
  • When creating the account for the child, rather than putting the allergy/medical condition name, instead state: “Sensitive. See Administrator (or designated individual name).” This allows continued privacy for the family while giving them confidence in your ability to handle the delicate situation
  • Place a colored sticker on the label so it’s obvious at a glance there is a high-priority allergy or medical need.
  • Consider making code names that convey the existence of a sensitive condition to the volunteers/staff and don’t make the children self-conscious. For example “goldfish” is the code name for autism and “puppies” means seizures, etc. It is important that the code names do not minimize the importance of the condition nor possibly be construed as demeaning.

With these different options, determine which works best for your organization. The goal is to balance the privacy of families with the individual needs of the child, while continuing to keep a high level of safety and awareness of existing allergy and medical concerns.

To learn more about KidCheck’s feature rich, secure child check-in system, best practices, and safety tips visit the KidCheck blog or join us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Pinterest.