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Manatee mom wants everyone on state's emergency contact registry

It took hours for her to learn her daughter was killed in a crash, and she doesn't want anyone else to have to go through that trauma.
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Police lights, stock image.

MANATEE, Fla. -- Christine Olson says she learned of her daughter Tiffany’s death 6 1/2 hours after she was killed in a motorcycle accident.

“This is what she had on her: her license. She had her address on it, not her mother’s address, so they go to her address. She’s not home because she’s dead. ... She was 22 years old,” said Olson.

While preparing for Tiffany’s funeral in 2005, Olson came up with TIFF, which stands for "To Inform Families First."

“It’s an online emergency contact registry. It could be someone is rushed to the emergency room. She’s unconscious, have a heart attack or a stroke,” explained Olson.

The Department of Motor Vehicles went online with TIFF in 2006, and 13 million Floridians have registered.


Olson asks the 4 million Floridians who haven’t, to do it too.

Olson said registering is easy; you can even do it on your phone.

“All you do is go on your phone to To Inform Families First. Go to register now see all the states that are participating. You live in Florida. Click Florida. (It) goes to ask you for your Florida driver’s license and birthdate,” explained Olson.

The next page will ask for your contact information.

“From your device, it goes into the magnetic strip (on the back of one’s license) and it’s stored. That’s the TIFF initiative, that’s how simple it is.”

Olson doesn’t want other families to go through what she went through. “My message is I want to pass on is to make sure families are connected in an emergency can get to a hospital to be by a loved one’s side.”

Olson says the state connects a car’s vehicle identification number and license plate to the registry too.

TIFF is active in six states, Indiana and Texas are next.

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