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| Children Rights UN Referendum |
| VeriChip Sells First Baby Protection System In Talks With Military |
 Global Defense Child Referendum |
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| Project Futureway Supports A UN 20 O's Proposal That No Child Under 16 Receive The RFID Chip Without Parents Consent and This Concludes 1st The Citizen Has Personal Interest and Preference To Join This New World Activity |
| Topix News Journalism
By Renee Boucher Ferguson - EWeek August 25, 2006
Updated: The maker of human-implantable RFID chips makes its first sale of its infant protection, wander prevention and staff duress system to a Canadian hospital and is discussing testing its implantable chips in two military branches.
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VeriChip, the company that makes human-implantable RFID chips, is looking to span its equipment from newborns to the military's enlisted.
The company announced Aug. 24 that it has made the first sale of its infant protection, wander prevention and staff duress system to the Brampton Civic Hospital in Brampton, Ontario. Separately, the company confirmed a day earlier that it is in talks with the military to test its implantable chips in two branches of the military.
VeriChip said in a press release Aug. 24 that the Brampton hospital, under construction now, is spending $750,000 to have VeriChip's platform and applications installed at its newest facility.
Insurers are studying implanting RFID chips in patients. Click here to read more.
VeriChip's infant protection system is really two separate above-the-skin solutions, one a band similar to a standard hospital bracelet that has an embedded RFID chip. The second option, called the Halo skin-sensing system, is similar to an electronic key fob for a car that can be attached to an infant's ankle or a patient's wrist. Another key fob-type device can be worn around the neck of staff members to use as a personal panic button.
But VeriChip also has a separate patient identification system, VeriMed, which is used beneath the skin. Once the chip is implanted in the fatty part of a person's arm (or in the hand, as chip volunteers have done), it displays a 16-digit identifier when tapped by an RFID reader. The number accesses health information in a database that requires a username and password for admittance.
VeriChip, of Delray Beach, Fla., confirmed in media reports that Scott Silverman, its board chairman, has held informal meetings with U.S. Navy and Air Force officials to discuss a feasibility study of its VeriMed system.
"These were preliminary discussions in informal meetings about the VeriMed project...and how it might be incorporated into the Department of Defense's electronic health records program," said Nicole Philbin, a spokesperson for VeriChip.
The VeriMed chip, which is designed "to give voices to the voiceless in the most crucial of times," according to Philbin, would be applicable to both veterans and enlisted personnel in both the Navy and Air Force.
The idea with the VeriMed chip is that data can be accessed even if a patient is severely injured or unconscious.
While civilians have the option of choosing how much information is accessible on the VeriMed database, it's not clear what the guidelines would be for enlisted personnel.
"In the civilian market, basically what happens is you elect to get a microchip, you have the procedure done—it's like a shot of penicillin—the patient is given a unique log in and password and it is up to the individual what they want to put in their personal profile," said Philbin.
"It can be as much as an organ donation profile and advanced directives or as little as just a person's name and doctor's number."
The problem, privacy advocates say, is that VeriChip is targeting individuals who may not have a say in whether or not they are chipped—immigrants, the elderly and the enlisted. (The CEO of Applied Digital, the parent company of VeriChip, recently suggested the government consider implanting RFID chips into the arms of registered immigrants to address immigration issues.)
The government is no stranger to RFID. In July, the Army paid $3.76 million to 3M to implement an RFID-based system that will track medical files at its massive Fort Hood Army base in Texas—the military's largest active-duty domestic base. Fort Hood houses the active medical records of more than 150,000 men and women stationed there—and their dependents' records.
Click here to read more about the Army using RFID to track medical records at Fort Hood.
In concert with NATO, the U.S. military is using RFID to track goods in war theaters as well as through global supply chains. The U.S. State Department, in concert with the Department of Homeland Security, mandated RFID-chipped passports by the end of this year. And the U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently released its recommendations for the pharmaceutical industry regarding the use of RFID to track counterfeit drugs.
The FDA also approved the use of VeriChip's VeriMed implantable chip in October 2004.
In a document titled "Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff" released in December 2004, the FDA made a couple of recommendations for VeriChip as it goes about its business of chipping individuals and groups like the military's enlisted: "When discussing the issue of medical devices that store, access, and/or transfer information externally, you should address the concept of information security," reads the document.
The FDA also identified a number of risks associated with an implantable RFID chip, including adverse tissue reaction, migration of the implanted transponder, electromagnetic interference and electrical hazards.
Razzle, dazzle, sparkle, and shine. Isn't this how we think all those stars get to the Oscars in the first place?
However, it's less glitter, and more planning that creates the reality. First comes the dream, then the work,
then usually a host of disappointments to test the resolve, then a series of small successes, and
then....publicity. It is a fairly predictable road, but often as business people we forget to plan our own
personal Oscar's night.
We also miss the key ingredient - publicity. Marketing is what gets you in front of your target market to make
the sale. Publicity is the spotlight that shines on you and solidifies you with mass appeal as the popular
expert in your field. You drive marketing to your buyers. Publicity drives the masses of buyers to you.
When your focus has been marketing it's a little tricky to change your paradigm to publicity. However, the
important difference between marketing and publicity is your target audience. You are no longer pitching to
buyers of your product or service, now your audience is the media. This means editors and producers.
These important people are looking for one thing, the story. A unique story. Something inspirational,
motivational, newsworthy, or educational. Period. Nothing else will do.
In order to be successful in the media you have to think like a publicist and find your unique story. If you
don't have a story, it's time to create one. What is unique about you or your business? Sometimes it's an
attitude. Like the employer that regularly asked her employees what they didn't like about their jobs and
then proceeded to shift responsibilities. It may be an event, like a charitable event that raises money for
starving children but serves beans and rice at the gala event to demonstrate how it feels to be poor. It may
be your wit, your way of thinking, what you care most about, or how you integrate your values into your
business. Only, you can find it, but trust me, it's there.
Begin to explore your own unique angles and media curves by keeping notes on your thoughts and
attitudes. Scribble, color, or paint it out - it really doesn't matter as long as you begin to devote time to
exploring your "story". Not your ad, not your price, not your product, but your story.
Once you've angled into your own unique media offerings, find the appropriate avenues to make your pitch.
Take care though, the media should always be treated with good will and respect. Do not, go
for the hard sell. This is not the time. If you must, save the hard sell for marketing, or better yet, chuck it all
together.
Be a star with the mind of a publicist.
See you at the Oscars!
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