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Helping victims, families connect in emergencies
Published September 11, 2005
Even without terror attacks, hurricanes or Lincoln Park porch collapses, more than 1
million unconscious,unidentified people turn up in U.S. hospital emergency rooms
each year. Some are children who have been in car accidents, or runners who ventured
out with just a front door key tied to their shoes. Some are Alzheimer's patients who
wandered into danger. Locating the next of kin for these victims can be a painstaking
process for health care workers, and in 44 states isn't even required by law. But family
members, once shut out of the emergency room, are often the ones who can provide
critical medical information, such as blood type, allergies and currentmedication as well
as a medical history. They need to be contacted.
Janet and Laura Greenwald, a mother-daughter writing team, found this out the hard
way several years ago after Janet's 71-year-old mother, Elaine, slipped in the
bathroom of her Chicago home. Elaine wasn't able to communicate and the hospital
didn't immediately notify the family, even though their phone numbers were listed on
her records, the Greenwalds said. When the hospital did call, nearly a week later, it
was too late. Elaine died alone, from complications that the Greenwalds said could
have been avoided. When the Greenwalds discovered that health care facilities aren't
legally obligated to contact next of kin, they spearheaded the Next of Kin Law, which
requires emergency personnel to make a reasonable effort
to call the family within 24 hours. Illinois and California passed the law in 2001 and
four other states havefollowed. In May, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) introduced a
federal version of the bill. Still, the Greenwalds were just getting rolling. They formed
the Next of Kin Education Project and created a free training kit called the Seven Steps
Information Kit (www.nokep.org) to teach health care professionals how to quickly
notify next of kin in almost any situation. Just before Hurricane Katrina devastated the
Gulf Coast, they joined with the National Next of Kin
Registry (www.nokr.org) and Shoewallet.com--a company that makes credit-card-sized
pockets for
shoes--to help people safeguard their loved ones when disaster strikes. "We're
helping people fill in the
missing piece," said Laura Greenwald.
Their timing couldn't be better. The NOKR, started by Mark Cerney after he discovered
a loved one had
died after she was already buried, is a database with next-of-kin information for more
than 5 million
Americans. Last week, the registry, billed as a "lifeline to your family," was flooded
with 5,000 calls an hour. Though the Red Cross (redcross.org) is the nation's primary
family connector for disasters, the NOKR allowed hurricane victims to post "I'm safe"
messages and "Lost" pleas from worried family Julie Deardorff members. But the
NOKR can be used for more common emergencies, whether you lose your toddler at
Target or your teenager runs away from home. It's designed to help anyone whose
family member is missing, injured or deceased and is free to the public as well as
local and state agencies. Families, meanwhile, can take other simple steps to prepare
for emergencies. Storing "In Case of Emergency" contact phone numbers into a cell
phone or PDA under `ICE' rather than a name has already paid off for several trauma
victims at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, said Sharon Ward, the hospital's
director of emergency, EMS and trauma services. Ward also recommends that if you
have a family member in extended care who can't communicate, make sure the
nursing home administration knows your wishes. "Be very forceful in communicating
whether you want to be notified if there is a change of condition and they'll be
transporting your relative somewhere, whether it's day or night," said Ward. "Advance
directives are always helpful, but I've seen patients with these and sometimes the
dots don't get connected."
Also remember the patient's will might come into play. Ward's own mother fell and
fractured her leg, but she didn't want the hospital to "bother" her daughter, the
director of an emergency room. "It was only when they took her to surgery that she
allowed them to call me and even then she wouldn't give up my
phone number," Ward said. "So sometimes the patient makes the decision. You have
to balance it out."
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For more information, visit the Web site www.nokep.org.
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E-mail Julie Deardorff at jdeardorff@tribune. com. Send health and fitness news to
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