Morbid question I know, but…How do the police know whose door to knock on if something happens to you?

[Hermanfromguesswho]

Inspired by another thread asking what people would assume if police officers knocked on your door and the overwhelming response was to worry that something had happened to a loved one.
Anyone who works in the police…how do you know who is next of kin/emergency contact?
I, for example, am a single parent of teenagers. I live alone with them.
Their Dad lives a couple of hours away. I have parents and siblings, who I am in close contact with but they all live at least 3 hours away and although they know what I do, they don’t know the name of where I work. They know my friends names but don’t have their contact details.
My whole support system here is a couple of very close friends (one is my children’s godparent) and my ex parent in laws (who live locally)
Morbid thought but I worry if I had a serious car accident and was badly injured or killed, how would my children find out? Is there somewhere I can register my friend and in laws as my official emergency contacts as they would be best placed to be with my children, care for them and inform the children’s Dad and my work etc.
I wouldn’t want someone knocking on my Mums door 3 hours away who would be lost and not know how to deal with it all!!

Well I did not know that tapping 'emergency call' under the pattern input bit does not infact call 999 but gives me the option to do so or to call the ICE contacts (so i have input them now).

But this presumes police, paramedics etc know how to access this info on ALL phones and people do behave as if all phones are the same (ie the PP who said 'oh you just swipe right from the lock screen' well no you don't on my phone!), and they are not.

If those at home are not adults, I think its smart to give them a 'what to do in an emergency' folder/sheet that can be kept somewhere sensible, and go through with them what they should do. I realise this risks triggering worry in some kids, but thats better than not knowing what to do!

I think how you input the data may differ on models of phone eg I just checked how DP did it (Android) and it's through Settings, Lock screen, lock screen signature, but the data is usually displayed and accessed the same ie on the screen that appears when you go to open the phone, before it asks you for passcode

Thank you. I googled how to do it, really useful and simple.

Regardless, if it is a car accident, that’s the main route they’d go, along with phone/wallet. You could put your dc’s ages after their names in your contacts/photos.

If ive changed my surname, and its just me and dd, will they still contact my estranged parents?

God this is a morbid question op 😄😄

I have no next of kin or ice on my phone

My mum was killed in a car accident. In the interim whilst they worked on her she was taken to hospital. She was actually on her way back from holiday abroad, so her nok details were in her passport. The police phoned us.

They'll scan the chip that was in my first covid jab!

The trouble with this sort of thing is that people don’t keep them up to date and they become a costly distraction a lot of the time. Which is why police normally go from fresh data that has more oomph behind it to be kept up to date - like car registration, driving license, voter rolls, addresses from credit cards etc.

I was an officer a few decades ago and had to inform NOK where I turned up at the address and it was a couple of teens home. I asked them for an adult we could call (ended up being their DGM who lived a few streets away) and got her to come over before I told them. Also had to call social services. Don’t know If it’s the same now.

Personally, I'd just hit the emergency button on the lock screen, as that gives the option to access ICE contacts and medical details without needing a PIN.

But I suppose the Police decided they didn't need to know anything about something that was set up for emergency services specifically so they could access the details from lucked phones.

I wonder how many people have the phone number of their crystal meth dealer saved as “ICE” in their phones. It could lead to some very confusing calls 😂

Useful thread.

Having just done it myself, I can confirm that this information can be available on an iPhone without having to unlock it.

First, I updated my health info on Medical ID, including saying yes to Show When Locked.

Second, on the lock screen, I hold down the volume down & side buttons (like I'm powering off), and get a screen with three options: power off, medical ID and emergency call. Swipe on medical ID, and everything is there.

All emergency services should know this!

I've learnt from this thread how to set up emergency contact on my (android) phone that can be accessed without unlocking - thank you all! OP that sounds like your best bet for the moment, and hope and pray in the event of the worst happening that the person who finds you is familiar with the emergency contact system on phones and therefore contacts your friend, not your kids.

recently every time I have been to a hospital appointment (had both knees replaced so been a few times) as well as confirming my name, address and phone number, have all confirmed my next of kin's name and contact details.

Same when I take my elderly mother and I give them her details, every time I have been asked to confirm that I am the next of kin as listed on the nhs details.

I have wondered / worried about this too. I would like to find a nice little bracelet I could get engraved with some details. I don't have medical conditions though, so I don't need the wristband types you can get. I would just like something that is like an everyday piece of jewellery (although maybe then nobody would think to look at it in a emergency).

A year ago a body of a man was found in a reservoir in Wales wearing a wetsuit and with no other belongings or id found.

A year later they still haven’t identified the man.

There’s quite a few about now that look just like jewellery

And no one would know to look for emergency contact details on them…

When my son died he was in Sydney, and was found with his passport on him, so I'm assuming the police got details from there, and contacted tje British Embassey or something

The phone call to say he was found was made to the Australian police just before 8am which I think would be about 9pm here, the police came at 1.30am so it didn't take long.

I have a bracelet that says SOS on the front of it. Medics would know how to open it.

They definitely do have their ways! . I got a call on my mobile at work one day, hardly anyone had my number back then. There had been a report of a woman being bundled against her will into the back if a car. She’d apparently been heard shouting out a boys name. It was quite an uncommon name back then. They’d somehow found out my DS had that name and then got my mobile number!!

My phone doesn't have a lock so easy to figure out who I am, I am Never without my phone due to a disability, but in the off chance it was broken I have a medical bracelet with my first name on it. My name is VERY rare, as in only one in UK, so no mystery round trying to find my kin.

I've recently had this but the other way around & I got THE knock on the door to tell me that my DD had had a cardiac arrest, as you can imagine the shock & distress were indescribable!

I was asked for her DOB which we were then informed didn't match the description of the lady involved & long story short, they'd got the wrong person!

Turns out they must have got her name from her bus pass & checked the electoral roll & my daughter lived the closest with the same name, even though the lady was on a bus & could have lived anywhere!

Not something I ever want to go through again!

Would wearing some kind of smart watch help with being identified? I know nothing about how they work!

Not exactly what you're talking about OP, but the Herbert Protocol was set up to provide the emergency services with this kind of information for people with dementia.

I'm finding the suggestions that we use facial recognition or can 'bypass GDPR' entertaining. We can't bypass GDPR, instead every agency seems to want you to complete extensive forms to access their information.
If it’s not an obvious answer officers should be asking their research team who have their ways and means.
herbertprotocol.com/

Few years back, the police needed to speak to me about something that happened to me as a child. They went to my childhood home, lucky for them my parents still lived there. They gave my dad their details to pass on (I was out of the country for work at the time).
They have ways and means