A Cautionary Tale

I'm an EMT. I answered a call one day. A man had died alone 3 or 4 days prior to our being called to the scene. A neighbor noticed he hadn't seen this person leave his home in a while and called the sheriff's department for a welfare check on the man. It was a sad sight. We spent quite a while trying to find out if this person had any family before we moved him and took him to the morgue. We contacted his doctor, his home health aide, his insurance company (the only numbers we could find). All anyone could tell us was that he had children but didn't know how to get a hold of them.

Please, please, if you have family that should know if you're hurt or worse, please keep a little slip of paper with their name and contact information in your wallat. You have no idea how heart wrenching it is for EMS personnel to deal with a situation like this.