ARINC Installs New Emergency Contact Program on Maryland MVA Kiosks and Web Site
July 7, 2011
Annapolis—Maryland licensed drivers and holders of State ID Cards can now add the names and phone numbers of three personal emergency contacts to their Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) records, for use by police and authorities in case of a serious injury or emergency.
It’s all part of the state’s new Emergency Contact Information program, launched in June by the MVA and supported by ARINC Incorporated.
Individuals can enter their Emergency Contact Information by using any of the 43 self-service kiosks located at MVA offices statewide, or by going to the MVA web site.
ARINC developed and installed the new custom software needed to collect the personal Emergency Contact data under a development and support contract with the MVA. ARINC previously designed and installed the MVA kiosks, and developed software for the Kiosks and MVA Web site.
“The Maryland MVA is nationally known as a technology leader for its pioneering kiosk program and other technology efforts that provide continued, improved customer service to the citizens of Maryland,” stated Elizabeth Leek, ARINC Operations Director, Public Enterprise Solutions. “Maryland now joins the handful of forward-thinking states that have implemented this type of Emergency Contact Information database.”
A public initiative calling for such an emergency contact program in Maryland arose following a tragic 2005 auto accident, in which a young husband, Andrew Knight, was killed and his wife was seriously injured. Following the accident, police were not able to communicate with his wife, who was legally the next of kin, and unable to obtain names of family members to be notified. Andrew’s parents did not learn of his death until hours later, through a phone mail message left by a friend of the wife’s family.
This incident, and another similar one, resulted in proposed state legislation in 2006 known as “Andrew’s Law,” to establish an emergency contact registry. Although that effort failed, the Maryland MVA later chose to go forward and create an emergency contact information program, tapping ARINC to write the software needed to collect the Emergency Contact data via the kiosks and the MVA web site.
The Emergency Contact program was launched in a brief ceremony June 13, and the first person to sign up was Karen Knight, Andrew’s mother, who entered her own mother, her husband, and her daughter as emergency contacts.
The personal emergency contacts are stored electronically as part of an individual’s MVA record, and are available only to authorized law enforcement personnel in case of an accident or injury. Police officers can access the individual’s emergency contact information by running a driver’s license check from the computers in their patrol cars.
ARINC Incorporated, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, provides communications, engineering and integration solutions for commercial, defense and government customers worldwide. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with regional headquarters in London and Singapore, ARINC is ISO 9001:2008 certified.
Release: 11-060
Brand Management & Communications
corpcomm@arinc.com
+1 410.266.4652
|
