No one knows my family?

The police department would notify your family members.

Your relatives would be identified very quickly with a 15 minutes of investigation. Investigators would look at your cell phone or a telephone/address book next to your home phone and run a quick search on their own data base. You can do a similar search yourself by looking at Spokeo . Don’t pay the money! Just look at what is available.

You can make things even easier for the EMS and police crews by entering a phone number in the “ICE” space on your phone (In case of Emergency) or sticking a note by the telephone or inside the cupboard where you have your phone book. They will find them.

If your question is “how would people know you were having trouble or had died?” that is a different question. You need to accept some responsibility for this. Do you do something every day? Go out to breakfast? Call a friend? Send a morning email? Do you know your neighbors? Do you get the newspaper delivered – or mail? Tell the mailman your concern. If you are a total recluse you can get a “life alert” but that is a pay service.

Now please go back to bed and stop worrying about this. Worry about important things like getting your prostate checked and knowing your PSA.

Believe me, you are not as alone as you think. I wish you well.

Write up your contact list and leave it in a sealed envelope where it will be easy and obvious to find with something written on it so someone will know to open it. Then quit worrying. What’s going to happen is going to happen.

Put a large sign on your refrigerator about location of important documents. My family knows that everything is in the red folder in my top desk drawer.

I keep copies of Medical Directive and Health Care Proxy in the glove compartment of car also.

Have a daily contact…call or email or text someone each morning.

Do none of your friends, neighbors or acquaintances know about your family? Why?

I’m listing @LuckyGuy as one of my ICEs. He has good advice.

Don’t you have identifying information in your wallet? A piece of paper with writing on it is still an effective storage device.