CareCall

[Guest guest]

In the event of an emergency..

..By Atkins, Globe Staff Correspondent,

EYMOUTH - The idea came to Rosemary , a single mother of two sons,

when her oldest, , went off to college five years ago. ''What if

something happened to me?'' said . ''Or what if something happened to

them, and I am not there?''So , then a computer systems designer, went

to local police and emergency departments, asking if there was a database

with information on how to reach loved ones in the event of an accident or

emergency. When she found out there was none, she took matters into her own

hands.Four years ago, launched CareCall, an emergency notification

service that gives police, emergency workers, and hospitals crucial

information about a person - from their contact information to medical

conditions and food and drug allergies - with just one phone call.''You

would never get into a car that wasn't insured,'' said . ''You would

never put your kid in a car without a seat belt. But how many hours of the

day are your children somewhere other than where you are?''For $40 for an

individual, or $70 for a family plan, subscribers to CareCall receive an

identification number and, more importantly, multiple ways for authorities

to find it. There is the traditional ID bracelet, where the CareCall phone

and identification numbers can be engraved, and metal shoe tags for children

or those who can't wear jewelry. There are clip-on tags that can be put on a

zipper, a key ring or luggage, and stickers that can be placed on personal

belongings like cell phones, pagers, laptops, handheld devices or on the

back of a driver's license. said that she has designed the system so

that personal information does not get into the wrong hands. Only the

CareCall identification number and phone number appear on the tags - not the

person's name or phone number. When police or hospital workers call the

number, the calls are forwarded to a 24-hour center, which forwards the

information to CareCall. The CareCall representative calls back the

organization to verify the source of the call.Once the call is verified, the

CareCall representative can provide authorities information on the

subscriber from the person's personal database. The database contains the

person's allergies, medical conditions, and any medications the person is

taking, as well as a list of persons to contact in the event of an

emergency. Although most CareCall customers are on the South Shore and other

metropolitan Boston areas, the list of subscribers has grown to over 2,000

and includes people as far away as California, Utah, and Florida.Local

police officials, including those in Hingham and Weymouth, have endorsed

CareCall, saying the service can save crucial minutes when it comes to

identifying people who are lost or hurt.Cheryl Timmons of South Boston, the

mother of an 18-year-old autistic child and a newborn, said she had been

searching for an emergency service when she saw at the Hanover Mall,

demonstrating the CareCall system three years ago.''My biggest concern would

be if something happened to me, would people who attended to my needs know

anything about Alan?'' said Timmons of her son, who suffers from Tourett

syndrome and tactile defensiveness - meaning he can't stand to wear

jewelry - in addition to autism. She said, the shoe and zipper tags offered

by CareCall were perfect.Timmons also said that unlike other alert services,

which only provide medical data, CareCall is all inclusive, and would come

in handy in case her son were lost and unable to communicate.But CareCall is

not just for parents, said. Single people who work - especially those

who travel - can also benefit.''If you are on the road somewhere, and

something happens, you don't want your family to find out about it six hours

later,'' said.Many of the employees at the Watch All pest management

company in Weymouth spend most of the day traveling, often as far as Western

Massachusetts and Cape Cod, so when Steve Certa, the company's president,

heard about CareCall last year, he signed up all 30 of them. ''I offer it to

the employees as an employee benefit,'' Certa said. ''Ninety percent of my

employees have families, so I offered it to let them have a little peace of

mind. For the cost, it's a very inexpensive company benefit that I can

provide for them.''For more information v isit www.carecallsafe.com

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