THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PINE BLUFF -- Police in Pine Bluff hope a new emergency contact database will help them notify family more quickly whenever a loved one has been in an accident.
Police spokesman Sgt. David De Foor told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the voluntary program is free and was created as a community outreach tool.
"This gives us a much quicker response in letting loved ones know what happened," De Foor said. "Otherwise, we would have to spend a lot of time trying to track down who to contact."
Randy Jenkins, who lives in Dallas, said he didn't find out until more than 24 hours later that his elderly mother was knocked unconscious last year after stumbling over rocks and hitting her head on the ground outside her Pine Bluff home. Neither her neighbors nor the paramedics immediately knew which family member to contact since she lived alone.
"I was devastated, but my mom couldn't tell anyone who her next of kin was," Jenkins said. "Thank God she recovered, but I wasn't able to be there for her right away because I didn't know what had happened."
Susan Trailor encountered a similar situation when her elderly brother was in a car accident about two years ago and was knocked unconscious for several days. She was away on business and didn't learn about the accident until her brother regained consciousness and asked a nurse to alert her.
Trailor said the program would have been "a real blessing for us" had it existed back then.
"I am definitely going to add my brother and I to the list so that if anything like this happens again, we will know immediately," she said.
Anyone who wants to participate in the program can submit the names and numbers of emergency contacts to Pine Bluff police.
State Desk on 08/25/2015