Officer Emergency Card File

[tcwhite]

Looking for any suggestions

There is some talk amongst our officers on establishing a card file for all our department employees that would give medical information and notification information in case of an emergency.

Some people don't want their spouses notified without another friend or relative there etc. and some other situations like this.

Some officers have allergies to certain meds, or special life saving requests, which is all part of what we want to include.

Does anyone have a file like this and if so could you tell me what information is kept on each card and how it's organized?

Thanks for your help!
Tom
[email protected]

[lifesaving123]

We keep an emergency file on hand. The main purpose of it is to see where your family would go incase of an evacutation ect... It keeps contact info for who to contact in any type of emergency and all info on your family. Its very basic, so i'm sure some departments have something more indepth.

edit: also forgot to add we also keep who our insurance and unpaid benifits go to in the event.

[azchopshopcop]

We have what is in essence a "directive" that is filled out by us, sealed and placed in the Chief's office. This file contains everything that you want to put in it from your living will to all of your financial information, and anything that needs to be taken care of in case of the ultimate sacrifice. This file is to be opened only in the event of our death. If that occurs, the department assigns a laison between them and your family to assist in "taking care of your business." It is not to be opened for any other reason.

The rest of our basic information to include allergies, family contacts etc. are in our computerized employee files accessible by LT or higher.

I think it is a pretty good system

[Evtech]

We had one that was quite extensive, several pages. It was kept in a locked file and used only in emergencies. The key to keeping a file such as this is to keep it current. As time goes by, things change, people's lives change and these need to be recorded. The way we handled that was once yearly at a semi-annual firearms training session, we would have the officers update their files. You can't imagine the horror stories I've heard of departments that keep such a file, do not update them and have their ex-spouses still named as a contact or as an insurance beneficiary.

I managed our peer-assistance group and these files were lifesavers!

If you have a union, you may want to contact them to discuss this. Some unions shudder at the thought of all this personal data on file.

[Pedro56]

We have one. It lists our Name, home address, land line and cell number, employee number, SSN, star number, rank/employee code, Next of Kin, number of children, and some other crap I can't remember right now.

[ACC703]

That is a pretty good idea. I have never thought of anything like that before. I could imagine that would come in handy in the event of an emergency. The amount of information you could put on something like that is endless. As far as storing it, I would suggest keeping it somewhere where it is easy to get to. You dont want to store it in the Chief's office where it cant be accessed during an emergency. I would suggest maybe keeping it in dispatch or something like that.

[ftlaudcop]

my agency has it

I.C.E ( INCASE OF EMERGENCY )

STARTED BY ENGLISH PARAMEDICS....

WE HAVE A DOWN LOADABLE...PRINT YR OWN ..

https://WWW.SHERIFF.ORG

[alanmoor]

We have our roster available via a private web database that is accessable to be changed by the officers and can be read by dispatchers or anyone else with access to the system. The idea is to have widespread access so a supervisor or dispatcher has easy access. We ask for contact name, relationship, work address, phone numbers, notes, and priority of notification. We don't do phone notifications so the phone is there just becuase... Some people put their spouses down as #2, with #1 being a friend or co-worker to help with notification of the spouse.

[NJladyGlock21]

We don't have anything for emergency contacts. I guess like anything else with my department they dont seem to worry about anything until it happens. Thank God anything that has happened has not been serious.
I am going to bring these ideas up at the next union meeting.

The only unwritten agreement we have is if any of us gets injured we dont wait for the bus...we get to the ER faster using the patrol car.

[toby101]

*NOT A COP*

When I finally get on hopefully some time middle of next year, if some news has to be taken to my love ones I would almost prefer the Chief or other brass will be there. Along with the local priest for my church and a good friend from the force to stay with my love ones.


Also I have heard one more thing about emergency details. Put the blood type and any known medications that you are allergic to along with any other information that needs to be known before any action to be taken inside your bulletproof vest. If you think about it this is the only thing you will have on repeatedly every night/day your working that is not visible to public.

[Tim Dees]

Medic Alert

If your department doesn't have an emergency file plan, or even if they do, consider getting a Medic Alert emblem. Medic Alert has a special Badge of Life program for public safety officers. The advantage of the Medic Alert emblem is that it is recognized everywhere, around the world. If you are incapacitated, on duty or off, an EMS worker or physician can call Medic Alert, toll free, give your member number (inscribed on the emblem), and get whatever information you have banked with Medic Alert. The information file is yours and you can update it at any time. The emblems are pretty much indestructible, not unlike a military dog tag. I've been wearing a Medic Alert emblem for a penicillin allergy since I was eight years old.

[NJladyGlock21]

Thanks a lot for the info on the Badge of Life program. It looks like a great purchase!