Of the essential contacts for whom you should provide detailed information, the first, and perhaps most important, are these two:

Provide the names, titles (cardiologist, surgeon, etc.), medical practice and/or hospital affiliations, and phone numbers (including cell, emergency service, and pager numbers) of those who may need to be contacted in case of an emergency. Even if you don't regularly see a doctor, at least provide the name of the primary care physician who has your basic medical records.

It’s vital that you detail your relationship and note if you are currently receiving treatment from a particular physician. (Don't overlook dentists, eye doctors, chiropractors, or podiatrists you visit regularly.) If you think it’s hard to contact healthcare providers during regular office hours when you’re home, imagine a stranger trying to identify and locate your healthcare team without such information!

List immediate family members, friends, and/or professionals (attorney, etc.) who should be notified. Be sure to detail their relationship (spouse, partner, family, friend, etc.) to you and indicate the priority of notifying them. (Hint: It's easier if you designate one person as your personal contact. This person may or may not be the one to whom you've delegated your medical power of attorney.)

Most important, be sure to include “back-up” contact names on your list. Even with cell phones and pagers, your first-choice contact may not be reachable.

Indicate who has legal medical power of attorney for you (your spouse or someone else) and provide as much contact information for that person as you can.

TIP: Make sure you provide your contacts, especially the person who has your medical power of attorney, with a copy of each trip's itinerary, complete with land phones and cell numbers where you can be reached (hotel, branch office, client's location, etc.).

In the event that your illness is related to a general outbreak or shared experience (such as eating contaminated food or exposure to some contaminant) or a local health problem, your itinerary can be an important tool not only for your personal medical care, but also for health authorities tracking the problem.

When picking a designated contact, consider their availability.  My closest and most trustworthy friends are my designated emergency contacts. However, all of them travel extensively. Given their jet-setting ways, the likelihood of them being around is low, so I've included the phone number of a reliable neighbor. She's the point man—plus she has quick access to my apartment.

TIP: If you live alone, it’s even more critical that you provide such information since there’s no one at your home number—the place authorities are most likely to call in the absence of other information.

Business Contacts: Don't assume you'll be fortunate enough to be traveling with an associate—or that he or she will be available to help. (They may also be involved in the accident for which you're being treated or otherwise unavailable.) Provide detailed information on who to contact at your corporate or base office, including your boss, supervisor, or manager and any support staff with whom you work.

If you’re traveling to a branch office or a client meeting, include that information as well. (In a life-or-death-situation, your thoughts, if any, won't be on letting folks know you are delayed. But in the more common emergencies you're likely to encounter, you may be very concerned that a diversion for medical care that results in a missed meeting not lead to you being perceived as some flaky, no-show type. With a number at hand, even if you can't speak, someone else can relay the message.)

Trip Itinerary: You should carry a complete and accurate trip itinerary that includes your flight details, hotel, and appointment info. (If your company or travel agent does not provide one, you can make a master template in Excel or Word and print and e-mail it as needed.)

• Always leave a printout or e-mail copy of your contact information with your designated office and home contacts.

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► Your blood type (You can save precious time with this single piece of information and you'd be amazed how many of us don't know our own blood type.);

► Your date of birth (Your age can be a factor in diagnosis and treatment.);

► Any allergies you have to either over-the-counter or prescription medications;

► Pre-existing health conditions (diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy, etc.);

► Any recent (within the last six weeks) surgery or medical procedures, including oral or facial surgery, you have undergone;

► Any speech, hearing, visual, memory, or other physical condition that may not be obvious to an observer;

► Note whether you wear glasses or contact lenses, and include a copy of your prescription for them;

► The location and type of a pacemaker or any other kind of medical device (shunt, diabetic pump, etc.) that has been implanted or attached to your body.

For a thorough "portfolio" of information, you should also include:

► A list of the prescription medications you are currently taking along with the dosage and frequency and the reason they have been prescribed (Some meds are prescribed for multiple conditions and it’s important to know the condition for which they’ve been prescribed.);

► A list of any over-the-counter (OTC) products and dietary herbs, vitamins, or supplements you are taking. In some instances, travelers have developed allergic reactions or other problems while taking such products and often fail to tell others that they are taking them, thinking they are “harmless” or irrelevant. In other cases, there may be a problem with an unanticipated drug interaction.

► A summary overview of your medical history including any surgeries, hospitalizations, accidents, or other medical "events" you've experienced from childhood through the present time, including details of any disease or condition for which you are currently being treated;

► A brief summary of your family's relevant medical conditions. (Knowing that your mother is being treated for diabetes or a heart condition, or that you have a family member who has had seizures, an aneurysm, a stroke, or circulation problems, for example, can help with an accurate and prompt diagnosis when a formerly healthy person develops a physical problem with no seeming relationship to their general state of health.)

TIP: If such information or family is unavailable, note that as well. It will save others from wasting time trying to contact deceased or otherwise unreachable relations.

If you're an international globe-trotter, add:

► A list of immunizations (type, date, etc.)

If you have a chronic or other diagnosed health condition, you should also include:

► Your most recent (six months or later) cholesterol and blood pressure readings (which indicate factors such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure that could contribute to some medical conditions and influence treatment);

► If you have a heart condition that requires monitoring, you should carry a copy of your most recent ECG—or provide ready access to a healthcare provider who can provide a copy on demand. (If you don’t want to carry it around, you can store it on a number of paid online services such as Instant EKG.)

Many primary-care physicians and medical practices have a special department (Medical Records) that handles your medical files. Get the contact name and direct phone numbers and list them with your other medical contact information. In some situations, you can avoid unnecessary or risky procedures by having your records reviewed before additional expensive or risky testing is initiated.

TIP: Such information is rarely retrievable after normal business hours (and medical-practice hours of operation may vary from the standard 9-to-5 of business operations). If you have records that need to be available 24/7, consider storing them in an online or electronic service. Yes, there are security issues but the farther you travel and the more precarious your health, the more important it is to have complete access as needed.

If you’ve "parked" your medical info with an online or electronic service, indicate how to access this stored data. Include company names, phone numbers, Web URLs, and ID and password information needed for authorized access for a healthcare organization or provider. If a smart card is required, carry the card with you and indicate that a card is needed.

TIP: Make sure you sign on with a reputable carrier and one who will, if necessary, bend the rules if you need emergency access and don't have passwords or other IDs readily available.

Now that you've compiled the contact info and medical data, you'll need to keep it in a stable, durable format that you can carry with you. Because the key here is ALWAYS carrying the info on your person.  A readable hardcopy in your wallet, handbag, or luggage is an essential backup but you could be separated from them (think lost, stolen, or otherwise missing).

The simplest method? A typed or printed card or sheet of paper that you fold and stash in your pant or skirt pocket or on something that you can wear (say, around your neck or waist) or otherwise keep on your body (See Medical-ID Jewelry).

Some very clever folks have their typed or printed information photocopied (on heavy card stock, say 100#) and reduced to index-card-size sheets that they laminate for durability. These folks suggest carrying them in the same case as your airline tickets and/or passport because they are equally valuable.

With more and more folks wearing security ID info attached to chains around their neck or on key chains, you could also add your cards to them. Of course, you'll need to keep the key chain in your pocket at all times and keys have this damnable way of getting lost. (All of these methods, of course, have their drawbacks but I note the simplest because it's got to be easy enough for the average person to embrace.)

In the not-too-distant future, we'll have chips with implanted in our bodies and medical caregivers will be able to quickly scan our body for the data. We'll never have to worry about misplacing, forgetting, or losing the info. Till then, alas, we'll need to rely on decidedly un-tech formats and personal vigilance.

Some folks have created Web sites with their own information or signed on for services that provide free or fee-based medical record storage that is accessed online or via scanable or machine-readable smart cards.

Aside from the obvious security issues with these formats, there’s the more important issue of access. Even if you're on the ground and in a well-equipped medical facility, the equipment needed to scan or read a card may not be available or you can't access the Net. And if you are, heaven forefend, on a plane that's in mid-air these options are useless. Even with their air-to-ground telemedicine connections and in-flight defibrillators, airline personnel and any available passengers with medical training still require instant information to act. Your "old-fashioned" sheet or card will be more usable for on-the-spot care.

Some of you may already have such information stashed on your PDA, a CD or Zip disk, in a file on your laptop, or on a printout back home or in the office. That’s a great idea for your personal reference and as a backup for your family, but it won’t do a thing to help on-site emergency medical teams or on-the-fly good Samaritans.

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Rules and regulations vary by state and you can get details from your state's donor network or a local organ procurement organization. For more information on what's involved in organ donation, review the Health Resources and Services Administration's FAQs. You can download a business-size donor card or request that one be sent to you (1-888-ASK-HRSA).