Elaine Ayala - Jun 23, 2008
Mark White sounds confident, even righteous, when he says his company, MyRapidMD.com, has developed a cell phone service you can't live without.

It's called MyRapidMD ESP 2.0, a personal medical alert service you load onto your cell phone and hope you never have to use it.

ike a medic alert bracelet, it can tell paramedics that you're diabetic, your child is autistic, or your parent has Alzheimer's. It also provides your photo, age, blood type, medications, allergies, doctor's name and emergency contact information. It's backed up by a 24-hour call center listed on key chains, stickers on your cell phones and windshield, even a magnet on your refrigerator. Cell phones, like wallets, are often where emergency medical professionals look when a patient is unable to speak or otherwise provide information on the scene of an accident or medical emergency.

White calls the system "the 21st-century medic alert bracelet." Given the estimated 255 million cell phones in the United States, White believes he has a marketable, potentially lifesaving service to sell.

The MyRapidMD's ESP software costs $20 for the first year, $6 annually thereafter. While it requires Internet access to install (White says the program is as easy to download to a cell phone as a game or ring tone), no Internet connection is needed to access data.

MyRapidMD has only 800 subscribers, but White says it has been recognized by EMS Magazine as one of its Top 20 consumer picks of 2008. The January edition of the magazine says the software "instantly turns a cell phone into an emergency information repository, holding up to 16 fields of valuable information." ESP was also a finalist for the 2008 Andrew Seybold Choice Awards, which recognizes innovative wireless mobile products and concepts. While ESP is not designed to house a user's complete medical history, White says it provides the most necessary data at "that golden hour," the critical moments when EMS is on the scene or a victim is en route to a hospital.

White, a New Zealander who has been in the United States for 20 years, has no medical background. He was a stockbroker and financial consultant before going into business development. The concept grew out of a failed project to store medical histories on handheld computers. The idea of having access to vital information on a handheld device stayed with him. Firefighters, a nurse and EMS officials sit on the company's advisory board. District Chief Richard Cole of the Houston Fire Department is one of them.

"So many times when a patient is unconscious, paramedics don't know anything about their medical history," Cole says. In addition to their medical information, MyRapidMD includes "what hospital their medical records are located at. To me, that's critical. You take them where they prefer to go and the most appropriate place, depending on their condition." Larry Kupeli, vice president of marketing for the MedicAlert Foundation, didn't refer directly to MyRapidMD's cell-phone service when he responded to an email request for a comment, but he did say that having medical information accessible in an emergency is about more than just a wearing bracelet or storing static information on a cell phone.

"We believe that people in emergency situations should have a live person to depend on to help relay their critical medical information," Kupeli said. "We provide this service to our members through our 24-hour emergency call center staffed with trained professionals."

"We've served as a provider of emergency medical information for more than 50 years, and our approach has saved more than 100,000 lives in just the past 15 years alone. Many emergency responders have told us that medical identification jewelry is the best and most dependable source of information in a medical emergency because there is no possibility of technology malfunction."

For his part, White says he cannot yet point to any lives saved by the ESP service. Indeed, he doesn't know if it has been used. "Unfortunately, the success of our product is the pain of others," he says. Still, with wider public attention, White is sure potential customers will see his ESP service as he does - as both affordable and priceless.