How do first responders know who to call?

[aunties]

My town offers contact cards for the elderly and disabled. They give you two - one for your wallet and one to put on your refrigerator. The first responders are taught to look there first if you are unable to respond to their questions. This card lists your name, address, doctor, insurance, contact info, etc.

 

[DLgal]

Don't worry about it. They have their ways. They can identify and contact next of kin in under 24 hours in almost all cases. The police usually handle that.

 

[Colleen27]

My mom has our numbers on a magnet on the fridge, and on a card in her purse. We also have a very unusual last name, which makes it crazy easy for anyone who is interested to connect the dots between family members - my father didn't have any of my information in his wallet or posted at his house when he had his first medical crisis and was living 2000 miles away, but a hospital social worker found me within hours via Google/Facebook. After that I sent him a get well card with my business card in it, so he could keep that in his wallet for the future.

Iphones have emergency contacts you can access even if the phone is locked.

Android does too. My adult son has me as his emergency contact in his phone, which has earned me the honor of being the only person he can butt-dial when his locked phone is in his pocket!

 

[pryncess527]

Iphones have emergency contacts you can access even if the phone is locked. You can also input info about allergies, meds, etc.

Ditto. I have my husband and mom listed as emergency contacts in my iPhone so they can always be reached. Once a stranger even used that to locate us when I'd lost my phone.

 

[DopeyDame]

If by first responders, you mean the EMT/Fire fighter/Police Officer who shows up at your house or the scene of an accident, they don't worry about contacting your family. They treat the immediate situation and get you to a hospital (as appropriate). With kids, they will obviously try to track down parents if they aren't immediately available, but in a genuine emergency or a scenario where the child isn't capable of communicating, they will treat the life threatening situation first and leave the contacting of people to the hospital.

EMTs will look for medic alert bracelets/neckleces in case there's allergy or medical info that they *need* but they aren't focused on getting in touch with your family.
Once you get to the hospital and out of the initial emergency scenario, that's when people will try to get in touch with someone.

 

[elaine amj]

I have "emergency" contact sheet on my fridge. Our local first responders give that out.

 

[ELKA]

I live near NYC, my oldest nephew, one July 4 was out with his friends to watch the fireworks. He dropped his wallet in the street. A police officer about 11:00 PM called me and informed me that he had my nephew's wallet. I figure it was around an hour that the officer got to me. My nephew has the same last name as me, but I don't live with him. Our surname is common and there are a lot of people with my first name and last name. I took the officer's number and called my nephew, he didn't even know that his wallet was missing, funniest reaction I ever heard, he got his wallet back about 20 minutes later.

I have a different first name than the one I go by on this board.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Android does too. My adult son has me as his emergency contact in his phone, which has earned me the honor of being the only person he can butt-dial when his locked phone is in his pocket!

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2489237,00.asp

 

[keri125]

I put my name and number on the emergency contact info when my son had his Android, mainly so that if he dropped it, an honest person would have my contact info at their fingertips in order to return it.
My ex-husband passed away in 2012 from a sudden cardiac arrest. He collapsed while putting fuel in his car. He lived alone and didn't have any siblings. His mother lives in Portland and they were not close. I was the first one they contacted, and the police stated that they were simply going through the contacts on his phone (it must not have been locked), and since we both had the same last name, I was the first one they called. I'm not sure what they would have done if he had entered contacts with first name only. I had to explain that we were divorced but did have a common child (he was seven at the time), and then the officer shared with me that my ex was in the ICU. I had to call his mother and arrange all the other contacts (work, etc.). Not fun.

 

[HarperLeigh]

Android does too. My adult son has me as his emergency contact in his phone, which has earned me the honor of being the only person he can butt-dial when his locked phone is in his pocket!

I was outside with DH the other day, standing in the yard, talking to him. I was holding my phone in my hand because I had just gotten a text, so I was picking my phone up to look at it, and it started ringing with the ringtone for DH. I told him he was calling me. DH HATES that his phone randomly butt dials people. He will be getting an iphone 8 through work as soon as they are released to replace his 5s, so I really hope that stops the problem.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I was outside with DH the other day, standing in the yard, talking to him. I was holding my phone in my hand because I had just gotten a text, so I was picking my phone up to look at it, and it started ringing with the ringtone for DH. I told him he was calling me. DH HATES that his phone randomly butt dials people. He will be getting an iphone 8 through work as soon as they are released to replace his 5s, so I really hope that stops t
he problem.

Really I have a 5s and I don't have that problem

 

[Marchand63]

This is something I've been thinking about lately. I live alone. I have 2 grown (sort of) sons who don't live with me. I have a serious boyfriend who also does not live with me. If I were in an accident, for example, how would first responders know who to contact? I would think this would be a concern for anyone who lives alone (thinking about my mother, also, for example).

If by first responders, you mean the EMT/Fire fighter/Police Officer who shows up at your house or the scene of an accident, they don't worry about contacting your family. They treat the immediate situation and get you to a hospital (as appropriate). With kids, they will obviously try to track down parents if they aren't immediately available, but in a genuine emergency or a scenario where the child isn't capable of communicating, they will treat the life threatening situation first and leave the contacting of people to the hospital.

EMTs will look for medic alert bracelets/neckleces in case there's allergy or medical info that they *need* but they aren't focused on getting in touch with your family.
Once you get to the hospital and out of the initial emergency scenario, that's when people will try to get in touch with someone.

Not entirely true. If it is an serious accident to which LE responded & you can't respond, they don't just drop you off at hospital & bolt. They will continue an invest including going to address registered to vehicle or license. If it is daytime they may talk to neighbors to see if you left contact info with them. You may want to do this if you have a trusted neighbor.

They can also contact your carrier and with confirmation of life threatening situation obtain your phone data. Same way they can ping your phone if you are missing or suicidal.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I put my husband in my phone as his name/husband/ICE and set it to my emergency that someone can access even if my phone is locked.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

My parents are listed as "Mom"/"Dad" and my wife as "Baby" so I think they can crack the code of who to contact. My phones not locked, I figure most unsavory individuals could probably crack it anyways.

 

[tvguy]

You could also do it the old fashioned way and put something in your wallet near your license.

To the OP. It's very simple. As an adult you need to make sure that contact information is somewhere for emergency personal to find. It's part of being a responsible adult.

Every wallet I have ever purchased has come with a blank "In Case of Emergency" card. I always fill that out. You should too. And you should have a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare listing SOMEONE who can make medical decisions for you if you are not able to.
Every time I go to the Doctor, they ask me to verify the Emergency Contact form on file along with a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare that I listed above.

My work has an emergency contact form we have to update every few years.

And there are databases, such as Lexis/Nexis that probably would link you to your sons and their current addresses. It would also link you to ex-husbands, former neighbors, all people who could help authorities find legal next of kin.

That being said, there are 3 people listed on our local coroner's website that they have not been able to even identify, one going back 10 years.

And as I learned when my mom was in a care home, there are people who have nobody left to be notified. There was a lady there who was 98, and was a ward of the courts. She was 98. Her husband, brother and all her cousins had passed on. And both her children had passed away of old age.

 

[DisneyOma]

This is something I've been thinking about lately. I live alone. I have 2 grown (sort of) sons who don't live with me. I have a serious boyfriend who also does not live with me. If I were in an accident, for example, how would first responders know who to contact? I would think this would be a concern for anyone who lives alone (thinking about my mother, also, for example).

They are going to take care of you first, then track down someone if need be.

My parents are listed as "Mom"/"Dad" and my wife as "Baby" so I think they can crack the code of who to contact. My phones not locked, I figure most unsavory individuals could probably crack it anyways.

My guess is they'd contact Mom/Dad way before anyone named 'Baby'

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

They are going to take care of you first, then track down someone if need be.



My guess is they'd contact Mom/Dad way before anyone named 'Baby'

Probably a wise move considering my mom or dad are more likely to answer. My wife doesn't always answer from unknown numbers.

 

[kmb584]

I'll share a story of what happened with a coworker of mine.

Her soon-to-be ex-husband (they were in the final stages of divorce proceedings) was hit by a car and killed while walking down the road after a concert. She learned of what happened when the police started pounding on her front door in the middle of the night. They asked who she was, gave her a brief synopsis of the events, and drove her to the hospital. He was no longer living at that address, but it was the one listed on his driver's license so that's where they went to make contact with the family.

 

[Lynne M]

At my mother's independent living community, they type up a sheet with the resident's emergency contacts, names/numbers of physicians, and current medication information, and have them put it in a magnetic clear plastic pouch that goes on the fridge. Apparently it's a place that responders know to look.

 

[wenrob]

I was outside with DH the other day, standing in the yard, talking to him. I was holding my phone in my hand because I had just gotten a text, so I was picking my phone up to look at it, and it started ringing with the ringtone for DH. I told him he was calling me. DH HATES that his phone randomly butt dials people. He will be getting an iphone 8 through work as soon as they are released to replace his 5s, so I really hope that stops the problem.

He needs to hit the power to lock the phone before putting it in his pocket. Not hold it, just a tap that puts the phone to “sleep.” He’ll need to do this with the 8 (or any phone) as well.

I have mine filled out in the Health app on my phone with DH, Oldest DD and my sister all listed. I’ve also done my younger kids, my Dad, Stepmom and insisted on doing DH and older DD’s even though they rolled their eyes at me. With iOS 11 you can also set up an SOS for you power button that will call 911 as well as text your emergency contacts with your location.
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/emergency-sos-iphone-ios-11/

Back before cellphones I always filled out those emergency cards that came with a new wallet. There’s also ID bracelets that can be worn, some even have chips in them.

The one time I had an emergency and needed to be transported by ambulance the police offer asked who she could could contact. I said my husband and blurted out my MIL’s number. To this day I have no idea why. By the time I got to the hospital I had messages from practically my whole family waiting for me. Except my DH. No one knew his work number. They all do now, lol, though it doesn’t really matter anymore since cellphones became common.