Geez guys, don't you think you're over-reacting?
If you go into hospital for a long stay you have a wristband and a clipboard of notes on the end of your bed detailing all the important info about you anyway. Having a bunch of lines on your wristband isn't that bad! It's not some sort of Orwellian dystopia where you have a barcode tattooed onto you, and Final, how on Earth do you think they're going to track you, and what for? Firstly it really is a bunch of lines on a piece of plastic so I don't see how that could be used to track your whereabouts, and secondly, once you're finished in the hospital, you cut the band off and walk away.
This just helps confirm who you are, the reader will check your information in its database and dole out the drugs prescribed by the doctor. It's a fairly simple system, tried and tested in supermarkets for at least the last 20 years, and it should help make patient treatment safer and more efficient. If the barcode reader fails then the nurse can access your database using your name and date of birth on the wristband.
Edited by - Recusant on 6/8/2004 1:03:18 AM
If you go into hospital for a long stay you have a wristband and a clipboard of notes on the end of your bed detailing all the important info about you anyway. Having a bunch of lines on your wristband isn't that bad! It's not some sort of Orwellian dystopia where you have a barcode tattooed onto you, and Final, how on Earth do you think they're going to track you, and what for? Firstly it really is a bunch of lines on a piece of plastic so I don't see how that could be used to track your whereabouts, and secondly, once you're finished in the hospital, you cut the band off and walk away.
This just helps confirm who you are, the reader will check your information in its database and dole out the drugs prescribed by the doctor. It's a fairly simple system, tried and tested in supermarkets for at least the last 20 years, and it should help make patient treatment safer and more efficient. If the barcode reader fails then the nurse can access your database using your name and date of birth on the wristband.
Edited by - Recusant on 6/8/2004 1:03:18 AM