One scan tells a stranger
how to help — and who to call.
A QR code on a shirt tag, bracelet, lanyard, or wallet card. If someone needs help and can't explain what they need, whoever is standing there scans the code and reads the words you wrote: how to talk with them, what to avoid, and who to phone. You're alerted the moment it's scanned.
Plain about what it isn't: this is not GPS. There is no live map and no location history. It works only when a person finds them and scans the code.
on scan
what shows
the finder
anytime
What a finder sees
I am
Marcus
I'm autistic and I don't speak. I understand you.
Talking with me: Yes-or-no questions work best — I answer with a thumbs up or down. A calm, quiet voice helps.
Please don't: touch or grab me, or raise your voice. Staying nearby and giving me room is enough.
In an emergency, call 911.
One example. A page for someone with dementia, aphasia, or epilepsy says something different — you write it.
How CareTag works
Write what helps
The name they answer to, how to communicate with them, what not to do, and who to call. About two minutes. If they can take part in writing it, do that together — it's their page.
Put the code somewhere findable
Print it on an iron-on label, a shirt tag, a bracelet, a lanyard, a wallet card, a backpack, a walker or a wheelchair frame. High-contrast and built to scan.
You're told the moment it's scanned
Every scan sends you an email — and a text, if you add a number. It says the tag was scanned, the time, and an approximate area from the finder's network. Repeat scans are grouped so one incident doesn't flood your phone.
What it does — and what it doesn't
Families make real safety decisions on pages like this one, so here is the honest shape of it. Read the right-hand column before you decide this is the whole plan.
What it does
- • Shows a finder the words you wrote, on any phone camera, with nothing to install.
- • Gives them a tap-to-call button for the people who know what to do.
- • Emails you — and texts you, if you add a number — each time the code is scanned.
- • Passes on an approximate area, at roughly city or neighborhood level.
- • Stays editable forever behind the same printed code.
What it doesn't do
- • It is not GPS. No live position, no map, no location history, no geofence.
- • It does nothing until a person finds them and chooses to scan the code.
- • It can't tell you they're missing. Only a scan speaks.
- • The area in an alert is a hint about where to look, never an exact position.
- • It is not a medical device, not monitoring, and not a substitute for calling 911.
If continuous location matters for your situation, use a dedicated tracker for that and let CareTag do the part a tracker can't: telling the person who finds them how to help.
You decide what a stranger sees
A tag on someone's clothing can be scanned by anyone — a kind neighbor, but also a stranger you'd rather not hand details to. The form nudges you toward what reunites and away from what exposes, and you can edit or take the page down at any time.
Worth sharing
- • The name they answer to — a first name or nickname is plenty
- • A short line, ideally in their own words, about what's going on
- • How to communicate: speech, writing, gestures, pace, tone
- • What not to do — the thing that makes it worse
- • One or two tap-to-call contacts
Better left off
- • Home address, or anything that says the home is empty
- • Full legal name, date of birth, ID or insurance numbers
- • Diagnosis history and medication lists — a paramedic will ask the contact
- • Anything they'd be embarrassed to have a stranger read aloud
Made with a lot of people in mind
Different reasons, same ten seconds: a person who wants to help needs to know how. Every page is written by the people who actually know.
Dementia & Alzheimer's
The case most families come here for: a walk goes further than planned and the way back doesn't come.
Autistic people
Including people who don't speak. The page says how they communicate — and what to skip.
Intellectual & developmental disabilities
Supported living, day programs, work, buses and travel — independence with a backup.
Down syndrome
For adults who get around on their own and want their own words on the page.
Brain injury
Memory, speech and orientation can come and go. The page stays put.
Stroke & aphasia
The words may not come out the way they were meant. What the person means hasn't changed.
Epilepsy & seizures
What a bystander should do during and after — written by the person who knows.
Elderly people living alone
A confusing moment, a fall, a wrong bus stop. Someone nearby can reach family fast.
Not on this list? If there's a situation where a stranger would need a few words to help well, the page works the same way.
Questions, answered
Does it track their location?
No. CareTag has no GPS, no live map, and no location history. It's a page behind a printed code — it stays silent until somebody scans it. When that happens you get an alert with an approximate area derived from the finder's network connection, which is a hint about where to look and nothing more. If you need continuous location, buy a tracker; the two do different jobs.
Is this only for dementia?
No. Dementia is the most common reason families arrive here, but the page is just a place to put a few useful sentences. Autistic adults, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with Down syndrome, people living with a brain injury, stroke or aphasia, people with epilepsy, and elderly people living alone all use it — and so do people who set one up for themselves.
Whose decision is this — and whose page is it?
It belongs to the person wearing it. Wherever they can take part, write it with them and use their words: what they want a stranger to know, how they'd like to be spoken to, what they'd rather not have shared. Plenty of people set one up for themselves. If the person can't be involved right now, share the least you'd need for someone to help well — nothing more.
What exactly happens when someone scans it?
Their phone camera opens a plain web page: the name, the short line you wrote, how to communicate, what not to do, and tap-to-call buttons for your contacts. At the same moment we email you — and text you if you added a number — noting the time and the approximate area. Repeat scans within the same incident are grouped so your phone isn't flooded.
Is it really free?
Yes — creating a CareTag and its QR code is free, scan alerts included. Paid plans add more tags per account and remove RepLinkQR branding.
How do I attach it?
Print the code on iron-on transfer paper, sew-in fabric labels, a laminated wallet card, a lanyard, a silicone bracelet, or a sticker for a backpack, walker or wheelchair frame. Keep it at least 1 inch (2.5 cm), black on white, and test-scan it before it's relied on. Two copies in different places beats one.
Does the finder need an app?
No. Any modern phone camera opens the page — that's the whole point. Nothing to download at the moment it matters.
What if a number or their needs change?
Edit the page anytime and the same printed code keeps working — no reprinting labels or replacing bracelets. You can also take the page down entirely whenever you want.
Does this replace a medical alert bracelet?
No — treat it as a companion. For conditions where a responder must know something immediately, keep engraved medical jewelry too: it needs no phone, no signal and no battery. CareTag adds the context and the contacts an engraving can't fit.