Emergency Contact Information History - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Emergency Contact Information History - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Driver Licenses & ID Cards Emergency Contact Information History Register your Emergency Contact Information at MyDMVPortal.flhsmv.gov Ask yourself, if you were in a crash or other emergency situation, couldn't talk and your cell phone was locked, how would your family and friends be notified? If you register your emergency contact information (ECI) into the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles system, law enforcement can contact your loved ones for you, and quickly, even across state lines. ECI is a secure system that only law enforcement nationwide can access in order to contact your designated family or friends in response to an emergency situation. Who will have access to my info? Law Enforcement Agencies have access for the purpose of contacting those you have listed in the event of an emergency. As of July 1, 2022, pursuant to s. 394.463(2)(a) or s. 397.6772(1)(a), a receiving facility, hospital, or licensed detoxification or addictions receiving facility has access to your emergency contact information for the sole purpose of notifying those you have listed of your whereabouts. Will my information be used for any other purpose? No. This information is only used to notify the contacts that you designate in the event of an emergency. Why was this system developed? The system was first developed in Florida because there was no emergency contact program in place to quickly notify loved ones in the event of an emergency. ECI was initiated by Christine Olson in loving memory of her daughter Tiffiany because she was involved in a fatal crash and it was over 6 hours before Christine was notified. History On December 7, 2005, the life of Christine Olson was changed forever. Christine's daughter Tiffiany Olson was involved in a traffic crash on U.S. 19 in Manatee County, Florida. Tiffiany received fatal injuries when the motorcycle she was a passenger on collided with another vehicle. Ms. Olson was not notified of Tiffiany's passing for several hours and was not able to say her last goodbyes. Since that day, Ms. Olson, with the assistance of State Representative Bill Galvano from Bradenton District 68, began pushing for emergency information to be added to a person's driver's license or identification card. Since the information could not be printed directly on a license, Ms. Olson and Rep. Galvano contacted the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) and took the next best route—to have the information included in the D.A.V.I.D. (Driver And Vehicle Information Database) system which is a secured database used by most law enforcement agencies in the State of Florida. Ms. Olson and her family and FLHSMV are urging all licensed drivers in the State of Florida to input their information so families can be contacted more quickly when a family member is seriously injured or killed in a traffic crash. Ms. Olson and her family have worked tirelessly to make emergency information readily available for law enforcement and her efforts have paid off so far. Learn more at www.ToInformFamiliesFirst.org.