If after weeks, months, or even years of reading this website you eventually do retire to Florida and leave most of your friends and family behind back home, you want to make sure that they can be easily contacted in the event of any emergency, medical or otherwise, you may experience here in Florida.
Now, hopefully you never need this advice, but you’ve likely gotten this far in life through smart planning and having all your ducks in a row, and there’s no reason to stop now. Fortunately there are several simple things you can do today to ensure that police or medical authorities are able to reach your appropriate family members or friends in a time of need. Each of these tasks will take less than 5 minutes each to complete, but doing so could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency.
Keep It Simple
One thing that you should do is keep a list of emergency contacts in your purse or wallet at all times. This can be on a folded 3×5 index card or even on the back of a business card. Just be sure to write “In Case of Emergency” at the top.
You should have at least three contacts listed in case of emergency, and label them in order of importance…#1, #2, and #3. You should also note on this list any pre-existing medical conditions or allergies you may have, and any important medicines you need on a regular basis.
Mobile Apps
There are several mobile apps that allow you to save the emergency contacts and details you listed on the card above in digital form on your cell phone. More and more, EMT’s and other emergency personnel are checking victims cell phones for details on who to contact before going through their wallets, so this is something else I strongly urge you to do.
As I mentioned, there are several apps that do this available for both iPhone and Android. Just search the appropriate app store for the phrase “in case of emergency” and several options should come up for you.
Florida Emergency Contact Information Program (ECI)
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles recently announced a service that allows you to provide emergency contact information to law enforcement in the event of an emergency.
According to the program website:
This information may save crucial time if ever it becomes necessary to contact family members, or other loved ones. This service is only available to individuals holding a current Florida Driver License or Florida Identification Card.
The way it works is you go online to the program website and enter your Florida DL number. Then you fill out your list of emergency contacts. In the event of an emergency, a law enforcement officer will be able to look-up your emergency contacts using your driver’s license. Pretty nifty.
My goal has always been to help make your Florida retirement go as smooth as possible, but I also want to make sure you stay safe and prepared once you get here. So please, don’t procrastinate…take the advice I’ve given you above and be safe out there.
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