'Emergency data cards' move to Web

  • Published
  • By Maj. John Thomas
  • Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  More than a week before its planned launch, the new Web-based 'emergency data card' helped more than 1,000 airmen in Alaska mobilize for a real world deployment.

Scheduled to kick off Jan. 27, the program began early to help airmen deploy from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Air Force Personnel Center officials here said. Within the first week, more than 20,000 other people completed the form upon logging onto the virtual military personnel flight on the personnel center's Web site.

Airmen can update their emergency contact information from any Web-connected computer rather than visiting their military personnel flights.

Called the Virtual Record of Emergency Data, or vRED, the form provides the Air Force with information needed to contact family members if an airman suffers a serious illness or injury, or dies while on active duty.

The vRED replaces the Department of Defense Form 93, Record of Emergency Data, and will need to be kept updated individually. The vMPF will prompt airmen to update their emergency data upon login.

Also, local military personnel flights will notify airmen based on location when they must sign on and establish their initial electronic form, said Maj. Jerry Couvillion, chief of the casualty services branch here. The transition is expected to last until June; however, people at remote locations without Internet access can still use paper copies of the form.

"The biggest advantage is convenience for the customer," he said. "People won't have to stand in line at the MPF to make simple changes to their contact information."

The innovation comes as the Air Force increases its number of deployed airmen, said Maj. Gen. Thomas O'Riordan, personnel center commander.

"Updating emergency data is important," he said. "It is a crucial part of expeditionary preparation."

Accurate and current family contact information can prevent delays of medical, casualty and death benefits for airmen and family members, officials said. It also avoids hours or even days of uncertainty during which casualty teams are sometimes left to track down next of kin.

"That emergency information is essential for our casualty notification teams in case an airman becomes incapacitated or worse yet, killed," Couvillion said. "Once the member initially completes the form, they will be able to go in at any time and update specific information as needed. It's simple and saves time."

Personnel officials encourage all active-duty, Guard and Reserve airmen to update their information every six months, prior to deployments and after moving.

On the AFPC Web page at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil, people can select the "vMPF" logo at the top of the page. New vMPF users will need to establish an account.

The online application, which will take most people about 15 minutes, requires information on relatives and their addresses.

Conveniences include drop-down menus that keep users from having to re-enter addresses common to more than one person, said Couvillion. "And if someone needs to take a break or go home to look up an address, as often happens with this form, they can log off and log back in to the same place in the form where they left off."

For more information about the vMPF, call the Air Force Contact Center at (866) 229-7074. (Courtesy of AFPC News Service)