How can a fully digitized medical alert bracelet work without a phone application or monthly subscription fee?
A Port Orange resident and entrepreneur has found the answer.
Amanda Anderson founded her startup Sharewear in April. Its main products are medical alert bands and bracelets designed to help vulnerable populations in the community, such as the elderly, especially those with memory loss, people with special needs, children and others.
“I envision this product as giving a voice to those who can’t communicate their needs when they need to or want to,” Anderson said in an interview. “They’re not always able to communicate their needs or what they need to accomplish in an emergency situation. This band gives them that opportunity, it gives them power.”
Help for vulnerable people: Ponce Animal Foundation helps dogs and other animals in need of medical care in Volusia
Although Sharewear has only been on the market for a few months, business is going well, said Lyndsey Allender, Sharewear’s chief operating officer. The company is focused on educating the public about how its wristbands work and the benefits they provide to residents.
Since launching earlier this year, Sharewear has donated over 150 of its medical bracelets to law enforcement agencies in Volusia and Flagler counties and even in St. Augustine as part of its efforts to spread the message.
How do medical sharewear bracelets work?
The most striking feature of Sharewear medical bracelets is the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
Each band is equipped with an NFC chip, like those commonly found in credit cards today. It contains information that can only be accessed by tapping an NFC reader.
For example, when parents buy a Sharewear bracelet for their child, they must scan a QR code on the product. This takes them to the company’s proprietary software program built into the chip. This program consists of an online profile form where they can enter as much information about their child as they want.
An NFC reader, found on most iPhones and Android systems, directs anyone who touches their phone to the child’s medical bracelet to their Sharewear profile, providing instant access to parent contact information and/or instructions on how to help the child.
“That’s why our product is different from any other medical bracelet,” Allender said. “Because you don’t have to display your medical information, your emergency contact information or whatever you want to share. All of the customer’s information is freely selectable on the NFC chip.”
The NFC chip requires no maintenance and customers only have to pay for the bands themselves – there are no additional monthly fees, Allender said.
“Your data profile is free for life,” she added. “You can tap your phone 100 times a day and say, ‘Here’s my new phone number’ or ‘Now my mother is in a different dementia unit’ – everything can be changed on it.”
For this reason, people with autism spectrum disorder or those who have difficulty communicating verbally could also benefit from a Sharewear bracelet whether they get lost, are stopped by police or need help from first responders, Allender said.
“We are aware that there is a learning curve”
The band has features that make it stand out from the crowd and make its purpose clear enough so that it cannot be overlooked.
“The band says ‘Tap Here’ and it has the universal NFC symbol and also the universal medical symbol,” Allender said.
In addition to a QR code printed on the wristbands, customers can also integrate so-called PopIns that can be attached to the wristband. These can say things like: “If lost, please tap here”, “I am non-verbal” or alert the user to heart disease, diabetes, brain injuries, etc.
“All of these are just signals to the first responder or whoever finds them or cares for them that there’s more going on, and they can get that information from the tape.”
But making sure people recognize the bands for what they are is an important step for the company, Allender said.
Employees in nursing homes: South Daytona nurses join nationwide union protests for better pay and working conditions
They met with fire and police chiefs across Volusia County to educate them about the ribbons before making their donations.
“Education is an important aspect of this because we know there is a learning curve,” she said. “NFC knowledge is only just becoming widely known.”
The aim is to make Sharewear a “household name”
Anderson came up with the idea for the band last year after hearing a suggestion to repurpose her successful hen party band business on Etsy.
“I started designing bands and bracelets with Venmo QR codes for the bachelorettes,” Anderson said. “They would wear them and say things like, ‘Buy the bride a drink,’ and take her to Nashville or Las Vegas.”
She was so successful that she gave up her career as a nurse to focus on her online sales business.
Last August, after her father-in-law became ill, her mother-in-law came to her and asked if she had any ideas on how to apply the same concept of her Bachelorette bands to help people with medical needs.
“I had already thought to myself, ‘I really don’t want to spend my whole life making these bridal bracelets,’ so the timing was perfect,” Anderson said. “It got me thinking, and I asked myself, ‘How can I bring this technology to these vulnerable communities and people who could really benefit from it?'”
While the focus recently has been on educating the community about their product, Anderson says the goal is to make Sharewear a “household name.”
“The more people know about this product, how to use it and what benefits it brings, the more useful it will be to those who wear it.”
They are also in talks about a possible partnership with Volusia County Schools, Anderson said.
“We have a great idea and are totally excited.”
For information about Sharewear and to purchase a band, visit sharewearshop.com.
