About Us

Emergency Contacts was founded in 2004, to help ensure the right people are contacted fast when a family member or other loved one has been involved in an accident or medical emergency. Providing live, 24/7 emergency service, secure on-line profiles and multiple forms of ID is our way of helping make sure everyone — from babies to teenagers to parents to grandparents — gets the love, support and comfort of family members when they need it most.

Why its important.....

Government reports vary, but it is believed that as many as 1 million people a year are admitted to emergency rooms unable to communicate because they are unconscious or in shock.

Thousands of children, too young to speak or remember important information, are left at the mercy of hospital employees or social services after auto accidents in which their parents were badly injured or killed.
Children involved in bike and skateboard accidents or hit by cars while playing are alone in hospitals for hours while officials try to identify them and contact their parents.
It can take hours, even days, to properly identify teen and young adult accident victims because there were several kids in the car and only the driver's information is clear.
People affected by Alzheimer's disease, autism and other cognitive conditions lie in hospital beds for days while their families frantically search for them.
Joggers and cyclists rarely carry identification and are regularly admitted to emergency rooms unconscious, with no one to advocate for their medical care or provide comfort.

Without identification showing who to contact in an emergency, hospital workers work hard to search for and call family members. The average time to locate parents and other loved ones in these situations is 6 hours but it often takes DAYS!

A Message From Our Founder

It might surprise you when I say our service is about TIME but it really is that simple. Almost without exception, our members feel the same way. Let me explain…

A few years ago, I was living alone with my dog when a friend told me his sad story. Years before, he had been in accident. Because he wasn’t able to speak for a few days, the hospital didn’t have the information they needed to contact his family or friends.

Eventually, he was ok, except that while he was in the hospital - his dog died - no one knew there was no one at home to care for it. Well, he was heartbroken, not just because he’d lost his beloved pet but also because he knew it didn’t have to happen.

After I heard this story, I immediately started carrying a list of emergency contacts with me in my car and wallet but it didn’t seem like enough. I started looking for a comprehensive service like ours but couldn’t find anything. I wondered what other people who lived alone did? What about parents? Or people with elderly relatives?

The more I spoke to people about the idea, the more I was convinced of the need for a service like Emergency Contacts.

Paramedics in Long Beach, CA told us about an 11-year old boy who had a bicycle accident and spent 12 hours in the emergency room by himself because the hospital couldn’t find his parents until they began calling police when the boy didn’t come home.

A woman from Phoenix told us about a friend whose wife and son were in a terrible car accident. The young boy survived but his mother died. The terrified boy was in the emergency room alone for most of the day while hospital personnel tried to locate his father.

Carrying emergency contact information wouldn’t have kept these accidents from happening but they would have made a huge difference in terms of the TIME these kids spent alone and afraid.

Since Emergency Contacts launched in February of 2005, we have heard and read many more sad stories like these.

Children, home alone waiting for parents who were in the emergency room unable to communicate.
People alone in the hospital unable to tell doctors about their medical conditions.
The Alzheimer’s sufferer who spent 3 days in a hospital while his family frantically looked for him.

The list is long and events like these happen all the time.

In every single example I’ve given, THE ISSUE IS TIME. It isn’t the accident or emergency, because we all know that these can’t always be prevented. However, we want you to know that we can provide the peace of mind that comes with being prepared for these emergencies, if they do occur.

We can help you, your family, neighbors, and friends with fast, dependable communication when it matters most. Our service steps into that window of time between an accident or emergency and provides a vital link between the people that need to know.

Obviously, we would like you to sign up for our service. But even if you don’t, I urge you to carry some form of emergency contact information with you wherever you go and to make sure your family members and friends do too. You’ll feel more prepared and have more peace of mind either way.

Sincerely,
Valerie Nay, Founder