In 1953, Collins’ daughter Linda cut her finger and was taken to a hospital. Her uncle, a doctor, checked her for sensitivity before giving her a tetanus shot. Good thing, since just the test put her into shock — she was highly allergic to the antitoxin.
She survived, and three years later Chrissie and her physician husband Marion Collins established MedicAlert, a service which provides a 24-hour hotline for medical personnel to call for emergency health information, and a special bracelet or necklace for the patient to wear to alert medical personnel to make the call in the first place. The original MedicAlert bracelet Linda wore is now in the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.
Today, more than 4 million people have a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace, and the system has helped save 80,000 lives. Collins died January 8. She was 94.
Update: I covered the Collins’ efforts in much more detail in my podcast, Uncommon Sense (which link also has a transcript).