Governor Jack Markell discusses Delaware’s new “Next of Kin Registry” launched by the Department of Motor Vehicles this week. The voluntary program allows anyone with a Delaware driver’s license to provide up to two people and three phones numbers as contacts that first responders can use if a participant is involved in an accident or other emergency.
Governor’s Weekly Message
Governor Jack Markell discusses Delaware’s new “Next of Kin Registry” launched by the Department of Motor Vehicles this week.
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message:
When you´re a kid, your parents send you to school with a set of emergency contact numbers – the people that most need to know what’s wrong, when something goes wrong. It’s peace of mind for the student and a critical lifeline to parents or guardians.
When you’re an adult and crisis comes – that first set of emergency numbers is easy to remember – 9-1-1.
Delaware has some of the best first responders in the country, and they’re ready to help, no matter how life-or-death the moment.
But what if you only have that moment? What if you could only make that one call? Or can’t call at all – for example, after a car accident.
Who lets your loved ones know?
How do you keep that critical lifeline to the people most important in your life?
This week, those questions became easier to answer.
Launched on the day when people make most clear who’s closest to their hearts – Valentine’s Day – our Department of Motor Vehicles is helping you make sure the people that you care about the most get the call when you most need their help.
It’s called the “Next of Kin” registry and it lets you provide our first responders up to two people and up to three phone numbers for each as your emergency contacts.
It’s entirely voluntary, entirely free to use and the information is kept completely confidential to everyone but emergency personnel responding to your crisis.
If you have a Delaware-issued driver’s license, you can sign up either on-line by going to DMV.DE.GOV to create an account or download the form or in-person, by stopping in to a DMV facility and filling it out there.
You know, whether it’s improving our schools to getting people back to work, Delaware’s always worked best when we work together.
That’s true here, too. So many people worked so hard to make this service real.
DelDOT, DMV, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, our State Police, the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, the Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) and the Delaware Department of State’s Government Information Center (GIC) which funded the effort all worked so hard to make this opportunity available.
It’s this kind of teamwork that will lead to more success in the future and the kind of focus on making a real difference in people’s lives – especially in life-or-death moments – that’s just so critical to keeping Delaware…. moving forward.
