What it is
Put simply, the flashID™ Emergency Identification System™ comprises two components.
First is a patented USB device designed to be carried on the person, whether attached to a key ring, on a chain or lanyard around the neck like an item of jewellery, or simply carried in the pocket, purse or hand bag.
Second is the Emergency Identification Document, which is a simple Microsoft Word file embedded in the device, containing as much personal and medical information as its owner desires.
Coloured the internationally recognised emergency green, the flashID device also has a white cross for immediate identification by emergency services workers.
Unlike so-called “smart cards” that require sophisticated and expensive readers, the patented flashID™ Emergency Identification Device™ can be read on any computer running the Windows 98 operating system or above and equipped with a USB port.
For those using Windows 98™, it is necessary to install a driver, which can be downloaded from our Downloads page which has available the drivers and other useful tools.
Once the document has been completed and saved, all that is necessary is for the device to be plugged into a computer in the emergency vehicle or in a hospital computer, and relevant information is immediately available in a standardised document.
For more see Data Carried below.
How flashID™ originated
In over half a century of involvement in international motor sport – as a driver, as an administrator and as a team manager and owner – expatriate Australian Peter WEARING SMITH has seen safety in the sport improve in leaps and bounds.
And not before time. In the 20 years following the awakening of his interest in the sport in 1954, more than 45 leading drivers were killed in motor sport, along with many more from lesser categories. Today, a fatality in the sport is rare, especially at the top level.
Much if this is due to the sustained efforts of three people.
Scotsman, Jackie STEWART, was World Champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973. As president of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, he was a leading advocate of higher safety standards for drivers. Following the death of his friend and team-mate, Francois Cevert, in the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen circuit, Stewart retired from the sport and became an even more zealous campaigner, achieving a revolution in safety standards in many different areas of the sport.
Max MOSLEY was elected president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in 1993, with a motor sporting background as driver, team owner and constructor. As a driver, he became acutely aware of the need for higher safety standards following the death of two team-mates in 1968 and 1970. As head of the FIA sporting division since 1991 and later the parent organisation, Mosley has provided consistently strong leadership on road safety in general and motor sport safety in particular.
Englishman Sid WATKINS, the son of a Liverpool car dealer, became interested in motor sport while a student at the Liverpool University Medical School. Following his National Service in West Africa he later specialised in neurosurgery. After a period in the US, Watkins returned to Britain and, while professor of neurosurgery at the London Hospital, became a member of the RAC Motor Racing Medical Panel and later Formula 1's doctor.
As the FIA Formula One Medical Delegate, Watkins spearheaded many major advances in overall safety and emergency treatment at racing circuits world-wide. The reforms introduced by Watkins and the FIA have saved countless lives in racing in recent years.
Among the arsenal available to Watkins at races world-wide has been comprehensive medical information on all drivers, so that in the event of injury or illness, appropriate treatment can be provided promptly and accurately in the knowledge of any existing medical conditions.
And it is the importance of the ready availability of this information that is addressed by the flashID™ Emergency Identification Device™.
In 2003, having bought a USB flash key during a visit to China, Wearing Smith was wondering what to do with it when the thought occurred that a simple, easily portable device such as this would be ideal for storing identification and medical information relating to the holder.
This was the start of a period of evolution of the flashID concept and of the Emergency Identification Document which has been developed after extensive consultation with Police and other emergency services professionals and constant refinement of the Document.
Data carried
The identification data is carried in a Microsoft™ Word document which comes pre-loaded on the device, and which is then completed by the owner. This document is easily completed, has provision for a photograph of the owner and includes instructions to guard against tampering.
Typically it would include personal and contact details, alerts for particular medical conditions or allergies, the name and contact details for the owner’s GP, and details for next of kin or other emergency contacts. Also, in the event of death, it will also show whether the owner is registered as an organ donor and contain the number of the owner's donor registration card.
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