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ccole32
member
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Emergency contact??
ccole32
member
Hi Everyone, I am new to Navy life. I have a 14 y/o stepdaughter and a 1 y/o. We moved to the DC area 6 months ago and have no family here. My question is: When you are filling out forms for the doctor, school activities who do you put on the form for emergency contact? I could put family that is in NY or do I put down friends that I have recently met in the area? Thanks in advance!
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Re: Emergency contact??
BFP #1 11/07/2012 EDD 07/09/2013 M/C 11/22/2012
BFP #2 02/05/2013 EDD 09/19/2013 Arrived via c-section 09/27/2013
When we PCS'd to Germany last year, I was at a loss for who to list as emergency contacts since I hadn't met anyone yet. I tried to put my DH down as one emergency contact and CYS let me know that the two emergency contacts had to be people other than my husband and myself. So, we put down DH's sponsor (who was practically useless as a sponsor, but we knew his name and telephone number) and the name and number of a friend of a friend who lived in the area (who has since become a good friend). I added people as I made friends and made certain to get the sponsor's name off the list (not that he'd be of any help now since they are all deployed!).
Do you have any friends of friends in the area? These folks can make due until you make some friends of your own. What about guys in your DH's shop?
I'm jealous of y'all being in the DC area! While I'm enjoying Germany, I consider Northern Virginia to be home.
I don't mean this to be snarky--but what good will your sister be if one of your kids is throwing up at child care and you can't be reached? Your sister hopping on a plane is not a realistic option. Perhaps the likelihood of this situation arising, anytime soon, is unlikely, but, IMO, it's important to be fully prepared. What if you are available, but your cell phone was stolen or your car broke down?
My situation may have me thinking a bit differently than some. We live in Germany and my DH is deployed. I had to make friends, or at least acquaintances, to use as emergency contacts. And, last night I was afraid that my cold may actually be the dreaded flu. I spent some time wracking my brain about who I could ask to help with my LO if I were too sick to care for him myself.
Life happens. It's important to be prepared with realistic and appropriate plans. I'm a firm believer in having a plan in place, with the hope that I'll never need to use it.
My kids are not in child care, so that's not an issue. We only have one car, which DH always has, so the chances of me having the car but not my kids would be a pretty rare situation in itself. I was thinking more along the lines of a real emergency... like DH and I are in a car wreck and someone needs to watch the kids. We already have the emergency card filled out where child care on post will watch them until a designated person comes to get them. That person is my sister. My sister does have all the contact info for DH's staff duty desk as well as our FRG leader if needed. When he deploys, we will have a different plan, but it's looking like that won't be until we're at a different duty station so I'm not worried about that at this point in time.
I am in Alexandria Virginia, but go to MD for treatment at Walter Reed often.
BFP #1 11/07/2012 EDD 07/09/2013 M/C 11/22/2012
BFP #2 02/05/2013 EDD 09/19/2013 Arrived via c-section 09/27/2013
You need to double check your state laws. In our state, if there is not a local emergency contact, my children will go into state care until someone can legally claim them. There is no telling how many hours it will take your sister to get to your kids. I don't know about you, but I don't want my kids in state care for even one minute. This state does not allow a child care center, to include the CDC, to be an emergency care giver for a child. It must be an individual. If I were you, I would list a friend or neighbor you trust to be a temporary care giver for your children until your sister can get there. You can not predict emergencies, but you can prepare for them.