the lead wires 14 and 16 comprise the lead system extending from the active implanted medical device 10 into the heart 18 of the patient 2 as described above it is important that not only the medical device be identified but also the lead wires 14 and 16 this is typically the case whether the lead wires 14 and 16 are operably connected to an imd 10 or the imd 10 has been removed and the lead wires 14 and 16 abandoned within the patient 2 although a physician may be able to palpitate the patient 2 in an emergency situation and determine the presence of an implantable medical device 10 such is usually not the case with abandoned lead wires 14 and 16 in accordance with the present invention rfid tags 12 are associated with the one or more lead wires 14 and 16 so as to identify the presence of the lead wires 14 and 16 when a reader or interrogator 20 is brought in to sufficiently close proximity thereto the interrogator or reader 20 may be operably coupled to an access or reading device such as a computer which can visually or otherwise relay information to the physician access databases to retrieve patient information and the like the rfid chip within the rfid tag 12 preferably includes information about the patient the imd 10 and or the lead wires 14 and 16 in a particularly preferred embodiment the rfid tag 12 can store and transmit the patient 39 s name and date of birth the patient hospital identification number or physician name and medical history preferably the name and phone number of the implanting physician is given the implant date and the hospital.