Among millions,
a patch that knows who you are.
In a sea of white ihram, his wrist band speaks when he cannot.
Hajj and Umrah bring pilgrims of many languages to one place. When an elderly pilgrim collapses in the heat, one second with a phone shows his blood type, medication and group leader's number in the rescuer's own language.
For Hajj and Umrah pilgrims and their families, and for the pilgrimage operators and group leaders who take them to the holy sites.
In the crowd, a pilgrim can lose his group, and his voice
- Close to two million pilgrims gather for Hajj every year. Many are elderly and take diabetes, heart or blood-pressure medication while walking long distances in heat above 40°C.
- Every day a pilgrim collapses whose language the local rescuers do not know, and he cannot tell them anything himself.
- In ihram a pilgrim carries very little. The phone may be back in the tent or out of battery, and a slip of paper in a pouch cannot tell rescuers his medication in their own language.
- Among tens of thousands in Tawaf and Sa'i, or in the Mina tents with no addresses and no signs, one pilgrim slips out of his group's sight in moments.
Mina, 1 p.m.
- Before departure · Jakarta
At the operator's pre-departure briefing, Harun, 70, has his wrist band registered along with the rest of the group: blood type, diabetes emergency information, insulin, the number of group leader Farid and the group's accommodation. His daughter sets up his medication schedule in WaveMed on his phone.
- 05:30
Before dawn in the Mina tents, Harun takes his insulin and marks the dose Completed. Apart from his ihram, all he wears is the wrist band. His phone stays in his bag in the tent.
- 13:05
Walking back in the midday heat, he falls behind and his group loses him in the crowd. He collapses with dehydration. No one around him speaks Indonesian, and he cannot say a word.
- 13:08
A Saudi paramedic holds a phone running 𝒱WaveMed to the wrist band for one second. In Arabic: blood type, diabetes, on insulin, Farid's number and the accommodation.
- 13:30
The paramedic calls the number read from the band. Farid reaches the hospital and the family in Jakarta is contacted. The next day Harun continues his pilgrimage.
When a pilgrim cannot speak, his wrist speaks for him
- A wrist band that stays on in ihram: RadPatch, a personal emergency information patch, holds the blood type, allergies, current medication, diabetes emergency information and emergency contacts the pilgrim chose to store. Sticker patches for shoes, bags and belts carry the same information.
- One second, in the reader's language: no battery, no internet, no login, just any current smartphone. 𝒱WaveMed, the free app for paramedics, emergency responders and fire crews, only reads, and shows the details automatically in one of 27 languages, including Arabic, Indonesian, Malay, Urdu and Persian.
- The group on every patch: before departure the operator registers the whole group in list order with WaveMed Desktop and a reader, putting the group leader's number and the accommodation on each pilgrim's patch.
- Before departure and every day of the journey, in the free WaveMed app: a medication schedule with reminders and Completed marks, even when rites start before dawn; blood sugar in mg/dL and mmol/L with a 30-day trend; and vaccination records with the lot number and certificate attached, ready for pilgrimage paperwork.
- Separated from the group but still able to use a phone: hospitals, clinics and pharmacies out to 2.5 km, nearest first; a satellite map to share where you are, with coordinates and a link that still send on a weak connection; Medicine Finder with the English INN when medicine from home runs out; and an emergency report that switches among 27 languages.
In ihram: the wrist band, with stickers for bag, belt and shoes
From pre-departure paperwork to the holy sites, in the free WaveMed app
Real WaveMed app screens (demo data).
Where it is read
How to roll it out
- Prepare wrist bands and sticker patches to the size of each pilgrim group.
- Path B: at the pre-departure briefing, register the whole group in list order with WaveMed Desktop and a reader, with blood type, diabetes emergency information, medication, the group leader's number and the accommodation on every patch.
- Train group leaders to read a patch with a phone, so a lost or unwell pilgrim can be identified on the spot. Local partners support on the ground.
- Path A: pilgrims and their families install the free WaveMed app, with no account, to keep medication, blood sugar and vaccination records, and update their own patch with the four-digit PIN when medication changes.
Frequently asked questions
What if the band has to come off during the pilgrimage?
Sticker patches for shoes, bags and belts come with it, and each one carries the same information.
Wudu several times a day, sweat and long walks: will the patch cope?
Yes. A silicone body with a sealed chip gives two layers of waterproofing against water, sweat and even the washing machine. There is no battery, so nothing runs flat during the journey.
Who can see a pilgrim's health details?
The patch holds only what was chosen for an emergency, encrypted inside the patch rather than on a hospital server. It is read with WaveMed or 𝒱WaveMed, other apps cannot open it, and changing or erasing it needs the PIN.
Get the apps
Taking a group to Hajj or Umrah? Talk to us about wrist bands and group registration before departure, and start today with the free WaveMed app.