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FAQs |
Why is EAN so much faster and better?
Emergency Response Personnel (ERP) have only your driver's license to trace back to a home phone number. We collect far more contact information, and we are continually trying to reach your contacts until we are successful. This also allows emergency personnel to completely focus on helping the emergency victims. And because the information in our database can be updated easily (we will remind you periodically to update your profile), you can be sure that someone will be reached.
Also, if you have a child away at college, there are privacy laws the university must adhere to if they are contacted by authorities in an emergency situation. By using EAN, this problem is avoided and you can be assured of being contacted far more quickly.
Why is
it so important to immediately contact family
members?
Certainly there is tremendous value in the peace of mind it brings to know that you will be informed immediately of a trauma situation involving a loved one. But there are also many factors such as medical and legal decisions that might have to be made, travel arrangements to be with the family member if they live some distance away, and other people that you would want to inform. In situations like this, the difference between 6 or more hours (the length of time it typically takes without the EAN service) and minutes (it has never taken longer than 13 minutes for EAN to make a contact since offering the service in 1999) can be extremely important.
How do I know Emergency Personnel
will see the card and use it?
EAN is continually sending awareness material to local and state agencies and departments about this important service. For them, it is a valuable tool to make their job easier. Also, by keeping the card next to your drivers license, ERP will see the large red letters Attention: Emergency Personnel and the fact that it is an emergency notification system. Over the years, this has proven to be effective in getting a rapid call and starting the process in motion.
Why can’t I just put a card in
my wallet that lists the same information I would give
EAN?
There are a number of reasons the EAN service is far superior. Perhaps the most common, if not the most important, is that best intentions notwithstanding, most people never get around to it. And then even if they do, a piece of paper is going to get faded and tattered. You could laminate it, but are you going to do that every time the information changes? By having a code number and the information on file and regularly updating it by simply going on the web, it is far more effective. Other reasons include:
- It takes the task of
contacting your family from the Emergency Response
Personnel that need to be focusing on the situation
and turns it over to us. We then continually call
until we get someone.
- We will soon be adding
critical medical information and other important data
to our service, and it is all in one file.
- We are continually making
Emergency Response Personnel aware of our service, so
they know to look for the EAN card next to your
driver’s license. We also provide you with window
decals that have your code number and our toll free
emergency number.
- It protects the privacy of the people you want contacted.
How do
the EAN operators know that it is a real emergency
situation?
EAN personnel are trained to screen the call for authenticity by asking key questions such as the name of the ERP, their ID number, their phone number, their supervisor’s name and number, etc. It only takes a few seconds if the caller is truly a duly authorized response official. EAN also has a sophisticated caller ID system to verify the call. This insures the authenticity of the call.
How do
I know the call will be answered by
EAN?
Our call personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week every day of the year. There are multiple backups of the database containing your information, and emergency generators in the event of power failures. In addition, we maintain cell phones for calling as a backup if the main telephone system should go down for any reason. All calls to this emergency-only number are answered immediately.
Who is considered a “family
member” for the purposes of the EAN
service?
A family member covered under one subscription is anyone still living primarily at the address of the person that signs up as the primary subscriber. In most situations that means the adults and children living at home, children away at college, and parents living with grown children. Minor children living in another home or grown children now living away from home should be covered under a separate subscription. This is because the contacts desired may differ, especially since local contacts should be the highest priority after immediate family.
Is there a limit on the number of
family members or contacts?
There is no limit on either of these, given the stipulations mentioned in the previous question regarding family members. However, most people find that 3-4 contacts with complete information is sufficient to ensure immediate connection in the case of an emergency.
What about
medical information?
We will be adding medical information fields to the database very soon, capturing information such as known high-risk conditions, known allergies to medications, etc.
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