If you or a family member were in an accident, would emergency responders or people close to you know what to do or who to contact for information? If the answer is no, you may need EmergencyLink. The free emergency response service stores you and your loved ones’ vital information in one place.

When you create an EmergencyLink account, you create emergency contacts who will be contacted in case of emergency. Then you can add any medical conditions or directives and information about important records (e.g., where your Social Security card is stored or information about your life insurance policy).

EmergencyLink sends you a free emergency ID card and two emergency ID key tags that contain your account ID, so in case of an emergency, emergency responders can call EmergencyLink and get critical information needed for your treatment and care. You can add children, parents and others to your account as well, and each will get ID cards.

You can select which emergency contacts can access which information. A big benefit of the service is you can update your emergency info without having to resend or reshare all your information. Android, iPhone and Blackberry apps are available.

Giving loved ones and emergency responders access to your vital information is one of the most important things you can do. EmergencyLink makes this easy and keeps your data secure (but for peace of mind, you can be selective about the information you store on the service or mask the data your share on it: e.g., list bank account names and phone numbers but not the actual account numbers or give password hints). Whether you use EmergencyLink or create an in-case-of-emergency everything document on your own, this is something you should make sure you have in place sooner rather than later — because accidents, unfortunately, happen when you least expect them.