Hematologist
CION Cancer Clinics
An emergency card for blood disorder patients, line by line | CION Cancer Clinics
A blood disorder emergency card should show your name, exact condition, blood group and antibodies, current medicines, allergies, one line on what the emergency team must do first, and your haematologist's contact. It helps a stranger act fast when you cannot speak. It never replaces calling 108. Fill it in with your treating team, carry copies, and update it after every change. At CION Cancer Clinics, our haematology team supports patients and families through treatment, cost questions and life at home.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Basudev PokhrelConsultant Haematologist · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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The short answer
What should a blood disorder emergency card say?
It should tell a stranger, in one glance, what your blood condition is, what could go wrong, and who to call. Name, condition, blood group, current medicines, allergies, your haematologist's contact and one line on what the emergency team must do first.
Why it matters in an emergency
In an accident or a sudden illness, you may not be able to speak. Your family may be panicking, or not there at all. The doctor in a casualty ward in Nalgonda or Kurnool has never seen your file. A card in your wallet or your child's school bag tells them within seconds that this is not an ordinary bleed, an ordinary fever or an ordinary pain.
Who should carry one
Anyone with haemophilia or another bleeding disorder, sickle cell disease, thalassaemia needing regular blood, a removed or poorly working spleen, immune thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count caused by the immune system), a blood thinner, or a blood cancer on treatment. If you are unsure, ask your haematologist whether a card would help you.
What it is not
The card is not a treatment plan, and it does not replace calling for help. It is a message to the people who reach you first.
Fill the card in with your own treating team. They know which details matter for you.
!
Carrying a card never means waiting
If there is heavy bleeding, a head injury, a fever with a removed spleen or low counts, severe pain in a sickle cell crisis, sudden breathlessness or chest pain, call 108 or go to the nearest emergency department straight away. Hand over the card when you arrive. Do not spend time phoning your own doctor first.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistCopy this onto your card
What goes on each line of the card?
Write it by hand or type it, then print both sides. Keep the words short enough for a busy doctor to read at a glance.
- Name and date of birth
- As written on your hospital records, so reports can be matched.
- Condition
- The exact name from your report, such as "severe haemophilia A" or "sickle cell disease", not just "blood problem".
- Blood group and antibodies
- Your group, and any antibodies or past transfusion reactions. This speeds up safe matching.
- Current medicines
- Names only, copied from your latest prescription, including any blood thinner or factor medicine.
- Allergies
- Medicines, foods or blood products that have caused a reaction.
- What to do first
- One line agreed with your haematologist, for example "treat any fever as urgent" or "contact haematology before any procedure".
- Contacts
- Your haematology team, your treating hospital and two family members who can be reached day or night.
Condition by condition
What extra line does your condition need?
The basic card is the same for everyone. Each condition adds one warning the emergency team must not miss.
Haemophilia and bleeding disorders
State the type and severity, and that no injection should go into a muscle. Add your factor treatment centre's contact.
Write clearly
- Head injury needs urgent review
- Inform haematology before any procedure
Sickle cell disease
Say that pain crises need prompt pain relief, and that fever, chest pain or breathlessness may be serious. Note any past chest crisis or stroke.
Thalassaemia and regular transfusions
List your usual transfusion centre, any antibodies, past reactions and whether you take iron-removal medicine.
No spleen or a weak spleen
Write "no working spleen: treat fever as an emergency". Infections can become severe very quickly without a spleen.
Blood thinners
Name the medicine and why you take it. Emergency teams need this before treating bleeding or planning surgery. Never stop it on your own because of the card.
Blood cancer on treatment
Write your diagnosis, that you are on chemotherapy or similar treatment, and that counts may be low. Fever needs same-day care.
Leave a number, we will call you
One field. No form to fill in, and no charge for the call.
Making it work
How do you make the card and keep it useful?
Fill it in with your team
Take a blank card to your next haematology visit. Ask the doctor or nurse to check each line and, if they are willing, to sign and stamp it.
Make copies
Print a few. Laminate one for the wallet, one for the school bag or office drawer, and keep one at home near the phone.
Put it on your phone
Save a photo as your lock-screen image or in your phone's emergency medical information, which can be opened without the passcode.
Update it after every change
A new medicine, a new antibody, a new doctor or a new phone number means a new card. Throw the old copies away.
Commonly believed
What do families assume about emergency cards?
"The hospital already has all this in its computer."
Only the hospital that treats you has your records, and even there they can take time to find. An emergency can happen on a highway, at a relative's wedding or in another state. The card travels with you.
"My family knows everything, so we do not need it."
In a crisis, even well-informed relatives forget the name of a medicine or the blood group. Sometimes they are not there. A written card removes the guesswork for everyone.
"If the card says what to do, the family can give treatment at home instead."
The card helps doctors act faster. It is not permission to skip hospital. Some people with haemophilia do give their own factor at home, but only as trained and planned by their haematologist, and serious bleeds still need hospital care.
"A child is too young to carry one."
Children are often away from parents at school, on a bus or at a friend's home. A card in the school bag, and a copy with the class teacher, means whoever is with the child can act.
Being straight with you
What can a card not do for you?
A card cannot decide treatment, and it cannot speak for a condition that has changed since it was written. It is only as good as its last update.
It cannot replace a care plan
Some conditions need a detailed written emergency plan held by your treating hospital. That plan covers exactly what should be given and when. Ask your haematologist whether you need one, and put a note on the card saying where it is kept.
It cannot give doses
Do not write medicine doses on the card yourself. Doses change, and a wrong figure in an emergency is worse than none. If your team wants a dose recorded, let them write it.
Where CION fits in
At CION, the haematology team, led by Dr. Basudev Pokhrel, reviews your diagnosis and reports, and can help you work out what your card should say. Where you need specialised services such as factor treatment or regular transfusions, the team helps coordinate care with qualified centres. Ask them which details matter most for your condition.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about blood disorder emergency cards
Where can I get a printable emergency card for a blood disorder?
Many haematology clinics and patient support groups hand out cards, and some conditions have their own national card. You can also make one using the lines on this page. What matters most is that your treating team checks what you have written before you rely on it.
Should the card be in English or Telugu?
Write it in English, because medical staff across India read English reports. You can add the key warning in Telugu or Hindi too, so that a bystander or a driver understands it. Keep both versions short and use the exact condition name from your report.
Is a medical alert bracelet better than a card?
They do different jobs. A bracelet or pendant is noticed quickly even if your wallet is lost, but it holds only a few words. A card holds the detail. Many people with haemophilia or no spleen use both, with the bracelet pointing to the card.
What should my child's school know?
Give the class teacher and the school office a copy of the card, with parents' numbers and the treating hospital. Explain in simple words what an emergency looks like for your child, such as a head bump, fever or sudden pain, and that they should call 108 rather than wait for you.
Can I list my blood thinner and its dose on the card?
List the medicine name and why you take it. Leave the dose to your treating team to add if they think it helps, because doses change. Never stop or change a blood thinner because of a bleed or a procedure without speaking to your doctor or the emergency team.
How often should I update the card?
Update it whenever something changes: a new medicine, a new antibody, a past reaction, a change of doctor or a new phone number. A simple habit is to check the card at every haematology visit and ask the team whether anything on it is out of date.
Does the card help when we travel to another city?
Yes, that is when it helps most. Before a long trip, find the nearest large hospital at your destination and note its name on the back of the card. Carry recent reports on your phone, and keep your haematology team's number where family can find it.
What if the emergency doctor does not follow the card?
The doctor in front of you will judge what is happening now, which may differ from what the card expected. Ask them to call your haematology team if they can. Share recent reports. Stay calm and give the details clearly, and let the team make the decisions.
Your Haematologist
Meet CION's haematologist. One specialist for your blood report and your plan.
Dr. Basudev Pokhrel reviews blood counts, transfusion needs and blood disorders, and works with the CION tumour board on blood cancers.
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Where to find us
Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. A haematology consultation can be booked at any of these centres through one helpline, and your team will tell you where each test or treatment takes place.
Warangal
Vizag
Sources
- NHS — Haemophilia
- NHS — Sickle cell disease
- NHS — Spleen problems and spleen removal
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute — Sickle Cell Disease
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Severe Bleeding With a Bleeding DisorderWhat to do when a bleed will not stopFever With a Removed SpleenWhy fever without a spleen is always urgentSickle Cell Crisis: When to Go to HospitalThe signs that mean going in nowBleeding on AnticoagulantsFor anyone whose card names a blood thinnerBenign Haematology EmergenciesEvery blood disorder emergency in one place
Talk to us
Not sure what your card should say?
Share your reports with us. A haematologist will help you work out which details an emergency team needs for your condition. One helpline serves every CION centre.