If you are ever in a car accident or have a critical emergency and are unable to talk, how will your loved ones know what has happened? Even if you have a mobile phone with you, it may be locked or damaged.
Hopefully this situation will never happen to you or to your loved ones. But if it does, there is a way you can make sure law enforcement knows whom to contact, and quickly. It is called the Emergency Contact Information system. Florida was the first state to put it in place, created in 2005 after Christine Olson learned only six hours later that her daughter had died in a car crash.
When you register in the ECI program, you provide law enforcement with a list of people you would want to be notified if you are in a critical emergency, even if those people reside outside Florida. It also operates outside state lines if you are traveling. In the event of an emergency in which you cannot communicate, law enforcement will tap into the ECI system and quickly get in touch with your contacts. Your information, tied to your drivers license, is available only to law enforcement.
Knowing you are prepared for whatever life holds is the path to peace of mind. That is what estate planning and life planning is all about, and that is what the Emergency Contact Information System is all about, too.
