Frequently Asked Questions

· What's wrong with the way things work now, without ENC? Won't   my family be notified already if I'm hurt?
· How does your system work? What actually happens if someone is   reported as being hurt?
· What if something happens late at night?
· Why is it so important to cut the contact time to minutes?
· How can I be sure that if I'm hurt, the hospital will contact ENC?
· What countries does ENC operate in?
· What information do I provide about myself?
· How many contact and phone numbers can I provide?
· How do I update my account information?

Q. What's wrong with the way things work now, without ENC? Won't my family be notified already if I'm hurt?

A. Yes, eventually; but it may take a long time. The national average is 5.85 hours according to the Emergency Medical Association. ENC reduces this to an average of 15 minutes. Here's what generally happens: Emergency room nurses, paramedics, or other caregivers are trained to check a patient's clothing and effects for some form of identification, such as a driver's license, looking for an address or phone number. If all they can find is an address, they call your local directory assistance to get your phone number. But what if you live alone. or your partner is at work or out of town? The emergency staff may simply reach a message machine...in which case they'll leave a message, which may not be heard for a long time.

Unfortunately, emergency service staff often can't find a number when your number is unlisted or if you've moved and your information has changed. If this is the case, they'll ask the police for help to try to track down your relatives or friends. However, this process can take hours, in some cases days, depending on how hard the task is and how busy the police are at that time. If an event with many casualties has occurred such as a natural disaster, police could be backed up for days.

Even if the police can track you down, go to your house, and knock on the door, what if nobody answers? They leave a note. If no family responds to the phone call or the note, the case is eventually assigned to a detective, slowing down the delivery of information regarding your accident and placing an unnecessary burden on public servants.

So, yes, your family will eventually be notified...but how long do you want them to wait, especially when there's a low-cost method for getting the word to relatives of friends extremely quick, within minutes?

Q. How does your system work? What actually happens if someone is reported as being hurt?

A. If you're involved in an accident and are unable to let the paramedics or emergency room personnel know who you are and who to call, here's what happens: When the emergency room nurses, paramedics, or other caregivers check for some form of identification, they'll find your Emergency Notification Company (ENC) identification either from the decal on your car window or your ENC membership card behind your driver's license. The emergency staff will call the ENC telephone number, give our operator your member number and hospital contact information.

The ENC operator will immediately telephone your emergency contact list in the order you have specified until one is reached. ENC will not stop calling until someone is reached. We will not leave a message, because we can reach someone far quicker by moving to the next number.

Once we've reached someone, we provide them with the information, allowing them to call the hospital and to get the word to other relatives, friends, and co-workers or employers. A process that typically takes hours or days can in most cases be cut to minutes.

Q. What if something happens late at night?

A. No problem. Our call center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Our people are always ready for a call.

Q. Why is it so important to cut the contact time to minutes?

A. Beyond the obvious, your family will want to know as soon as possible if you're hurt, and any extended period during which you are missing can be very painful for them. There are other good reasons to speed up the contact time. Perhaps you have important medical information that caregivers need to know which your family can supply immediately. The sooner your friends and colleagues have been contacted, the sooner other arrangements can be made, too. Perhaps you were supposed to pick up the kids after school; go to a critical business meeting; pick up your parents from the airport. Whatever's going on in your life, the shorter time you are missing, the better.

Q. How can I be sure that if I'm hurt, the hospital will call ENC?

A. Emergency room nurses, paramedics, or other caregivers are trained to check for some form of identification, such as a driver's license or identification jewelry. They want to find contact information because it's often difficult to contact a patient's relatives. So as long as you are carrying ENC identification, they will find it and they will call.

Q. What countries does ENC operate in?

A. ENC currently only sells accounts in the U.S.A. and Canada. However, if an emergency care worker in another country finds your ENC identification and contacts ENC with emergency information, we'll still get to work right away calling your contacts.

Q. What information do I provide about myself?

A. Name, sex, date of birth, race, and any other information you want to give us like hair color, eye color, height, weight, blood type, identifying marks, physician's name and numbers. What use is all this information? The additional notes, and the physician's name and number, may contain information that a contact would want to give to caregivers.

Q. How many contacts and phone numbers can I provide?

A. You can provide as many contacts as you wish, but you must provide a minimum of 4 contacts to set up your account. For each one you can provide a full address, an email address and three phone numbers. We will only give out the details of an emergency situation to those people you have listed as the contact. IMPORTANT: We recommend that you tell all the people you have listed as contacts that you have done so.

Q. How do I update my account information?

A. You can update your account information at any time through our website. Simply go to the "Log In" section of the website, and enter your Username and Password to access your account.