Medical Alert Bracelets for You and your Loved Ones’ Peace of Mind [Interview][Transcript]
Guest: Michael Randall
Presenter: Henry Acosta
Guest Bio: Michael Randall is the CEO, Mediband since January 2004. During this time he launched several successful medical and health business units including TGA medical devices. His prior work includes roles in teaching international marketing & business; land and property management; and international business management.
As Mediband CEO he launched MedibandPlus, FeverMates medical device range and MediBC and oversaw expansion of Mediband to the USA, UK, South Africa, New Zealand amongst other countries. He lectured in International Marketing & business at the University of Technology, Sydney, July 1999 – December 2000; Chief Operating Officer at Frome Street Group of Companies; January 1990 – June 2003.
Segment overview: Mediband provides ready-to-wear and custom engraved identification alert bracelets in various styles – our signature product is the silicone based medical ID. MedibandPlus is an additional and optional emergency medical information service providing 24hr-accessible web-based medical information to medical personnel and first responders in emergencies. Mediband medical alert bracelets provide peace of mind so that when the unexpected happens, critical medical information can be conveyed to emergency personnel. These are helpful in making sure incorrect diagnosis and treatment is preveted, raising awareness of medical conditions such as allergies, and providing vital medical and contact information in emergencies.
Mediband® bracelets can be linked to the MedibandPlus web-based medical database enabling subscribers to store medical information for emergency access. The wristbands are available in a range of colours and sizes. They are also designed to break when enough force is applied to prevent snagging or catching injuries. MediBC provides access to a large range of first aid kits by St John and Trafalgar in addition to St John first aid training courses. Fevermates are a convenient, easy-to-read, fuss free stick-on fever & temperature indicators that allow you to continuously monitor your children’s fever or temperature for up to 48 hours at a glance.
Transcript – Medibands
Henry Acosta: You are listening to Health Professional Radio with Henry Acosta. I’m Henry and today, our guest on the show is Michael Randall. Michael is the Managing Director of Mediband. Mediband provides ready to wear and custom engraved identification alert bracelets in various styles. It can be a rubber band around your wrist or even a cool steel bracelet. Along with Mediband, there is MedibandPlus. With MedibandPlus, you not only get a Mediband but also a 24 hour database that is accessible thru the web-based medical information to medical personnel and first responders in emergencies. This helps you to live your life to the fullest without being worried about emergency situation. With all that said, welcome to Health Professional Radio Michael. Glad to have you here.
Michael Randal: Thank you for having me Henry. It’s a pleasure to be here.
H: To get things started, we just wanted to know for the listeners, what inspired you into starting Mediband?
M: Thank you for that question, it’s a good question. Back in 2004, my children in fact my child Tristan, he had an allergy to peanuts, MSG and tomatoes and so it grew out of that. We obviously couldn’t find anything readily available for him to wear at that time that he could wear comfortably. We developed our own Mediband which was a small, at that time, it was a small wristband made of silicon, no latex involved obviously in that. It’s all silicon and he wore that into preschool so that they would know what allergies he had. It all grew out of that, what started with just one little band obviously grew into more customers coming alongside, we’ve got the diabetes, we’ve got these, we’ve got the other medical conditions and that’s where we grew from.
H: That sounds really interesting and it sounds like it helps a lot of people.
M: Yes.
H: With regards to that, Mediband and MedibandPlus, what do you get with MedibandPlus?
M: MedibandPlus is our online medical database. When you do buy Mediband, which are available in most pharmacies around Australia and indeed, around the world, you’re not pushed into MedibandPlus, you don’t have to have MedibandPlus. It’s just an additional service. Basically, MedibandPlus is an online database, stores the customers’ detailed information in an emergency or someone needs to do is rather going to the main website, medibandplus.com which is very long-winded. They just go to medibp.com. Enter the person’s 6 digits membership number, that brings up all their details. They can literally write an essay in there, but it’s all put into various areas so it’s readily accessible and easy to understand. The first responder can also send their details to their emergency contacts so that they notified in that emergency. But as I said, the membership to MedibandPlus isn’t necessary. A customer can choose to just have a Mediband and wear the Mediband which would have a relevant information on it as well – contact details, what the person has such as diabetes, or allergy, or Xarelto and so on.
H: For people who are healthy, why would they wear Medibands?
M: Someone who doesn’t have a medical condition did not wear a Mediband. For example, although we have had a number of people traveling with kids overseas, who if they get lost purely for a non-medical reason would wear a custom Mediband which we customize with contact details on, we can do other languages on there as well. We can do within for example, we made one the other day in Arabic, for someone who has a peanut allergy, traveling from the U.S. to one of the Arab states. For those reasons obviously, customize their details on it in English and also in the language of the country they’re going to.
H: With regards to MedibandPlus, can you tell us how the database works? And can you give us examples on with regards to like emergency situations like how did it help?
M: Yes. If someone is found in the street unconscious wearing their Mediband, it would have a thing on the Mediband, a statement on the Mediband saying, ‘Go to medibp.com’. It will have this 6-digit number. The first responder would log-in to medibp.com, type in that person’s details. Their full details would come up and information is seen on their phone. It’s rather simple, there’s no missing around with calling a service up to talk to someone, you might be on the phone to 000 or 911 in the U.S. for example. You can’t talk to someone else or get someone else’s details. You look it up on the phone and go that way, but as I said, you don’t need MedibandPlus. You can just use Mediband because they’re already low cost sidings which help a lot of people to be able to wear them. We do the stainless steel and gold ones as well. But there’s a very large call for the silicon ones because they’re better in each situation so people for example, not just children in schools playing sports where the metal can catch on things, they can be worn wound under many different circumstances, industrial applications as well.
H: I see. How much is it cost to sign up for MedibandPlus?
M: MedibandPlus is only around about $8 per year. It’s very low cost. The actual Mediband themselves there anywhere between $5.95 and $9.95, $11 or so, depending on what style. We have bold ones where the conditions are written on the outside. We also have reversible ones with the star of life symbol and the Mediband logo on the outside. So there’s a lot of different styles, but the great thing about Mediband is that just recently, we received a private ruling from the ATO, all Mediband now are GST free. There’s no tax on Medibands.
H: With regards to the pricing, how many Medibands do you get? And can you also get some for your family members or friends?
M: Most definitely. The ones that are sold in pharmacies and hospitals, Diabetes Australia and some allergy clinics around Australia as well, they are in stock ones and they generally bear between $5.95 and $9.95, they’re already pre-engraved with the condition on them. The custom ones which sell per 7 so if you lose some, you can always got one spare. You don’t to set up to your prepared, you’ve always got one there in the car or the office as a spare or backup, because if you’ve got a medical condition, you would really want to wear that at all times. They’re at about $35 per 7.
H: That’s actually a pretty (crosstalk) price. That sounds great.
M: Exactly.
H: With regards to the Medibands and MedibandPlus, what is usually the most common misconception that bothers you?
M: Also a very good question. We don’t have many misconceptions as several get confused between Mediband Plus and Mediband, not knowing that MedibandPlus is just an additional add-on that they don’t need to have. But I guess one of the greatest misconceptions actually comes from our competitors where people are told that these as seen as an awareness band like a fundraising band which they’re not or maybe bands contain on the outside a Mediband symbol which is trademarked around the world as well as a star of life symbol which clearly identifies that it’s a medical condition band or medical ID band. That would be our largest misconception. But that’s over time, since we’ve been around since that 2004, that’s a misconception that is largely myth. We’ve got pharmaceutical trials who utilize Medibands in large scale pharmaceutical trials which obviously goes through their clinical boards to make sure that it’s safe and easy to use and also easy to see that it’s a medical ID. That sort of stands for test of time…
H: For all our listeners right now specifically health professionals, what do you want them to learn about Mediband?
M: I guess if you wear a medical ID, this obviously there’s Mediband, there’s a number of other different providers out there. I think it’s important to at least medical or not, that there are options for people; there’s expensive options, there’s low cost options, there’s those in-between. I think if you got a medical ID, it’s important to wear a medical ID. I guess that would be my take home from this, is that if you got a medical condition, it’s important to wear a medical ID because if you can’t speak for yourself, the Mediband or medical ID will be up to talk for you in an emergency.
H: Alright. For those interested in purchasing Mediband and MedibandPlus and maybe even talking to you Michael, what’s the best way to do that?
M: Sure. Basically if you go to our website, we sell the Medibands at www.mediband.com. The MedibandPlus membership can be obtained from www.medibandplus.com. And of course, we’re also sold in a very large selection of pharmacies around Australia. Allergy clinics stock us as well. If you’re going to an allergy clinic, they might well truly have Medibands there and of course hospitals and Diabetes Australia and some branches around such as New South Wales and Victoria, they stock Medibands on their shops. There’s a great range of areas where you can purchase them from.
H: Is it available worldwide? And let’s say people from the States, how long will it take them to get their Medibands if they order?
M: So if you’re ordering in in-stock Medibands in the U.S, we’re also having soft ones that we should out the same day. We basically get it there within around about 2 to 3 days. We’re also stalk on Amazon in the U.S. Custom ones will normally take around about 7 to 10 days for production and then we ship them. You’re looking at around about anything from a few days to a couple of weeks or a week for the customers.
H: Alright. Well that’s all our questions for today and thank you so much for coming on the show Michael.
M: Thank you very much Henry. It’s been my pleasure.
H: And that was Michael Randall, the Managing Director of Mediband. We just finished talking about Mediband and MedibandPlus, and how they help people with certain conditions to live free of worries. If you want to learn more about his products, you can go on www.mediband.com and www.medibandplus.com. If you’re interested in more health-related topics such as fitness, medical research and current news in the health industry, you can go to www.hpr.fm. We’re also available on Youtube, Soundcloud and iTunes. Don’t forget to follow us and like us on our main social media platforms for more update. I’m Henry Acosta and you’ve been listening to Health Professional Radio.