My question is in particular: How will the home owner know what to do and whom to contact in such a case?
As far as I can remember THS has never asked me for emergency contact details of a family member or my travel insurance details or alike, and if you did when I registered (I don’t remember) they haven’t been updated for years and cannot be found anywhere, I just checked in all my profile settings.
I am currently enjoying peaceful solitude away from human society during a long sit on a remote off-grid farm and nobody is checking on me in person (I especially requested this, except of my WhatsApp exchange with the HOs every few days), and if I suddenly dropped dead with a stroke or heart attack and the HO would send some local friend over after a few days, they would probably not know how to find my next of kin. Does THS have any provisions in place?
Maybe as part of our THS account, there should be a place for us to note an emergency contact person. Then if there was a problem, the home owner lets THS know and THS can contact that person.
We message the HO 2x per day. If we both dropped dead the HO would know within 12-24 hours that something was wrong. If you have this particular fear you might want to travel with a card of your emergency contact. I used to travel with an organ transplant card until I lost it but never thought of this issue.
I ride motorcycles and in my wallet, easily found, is a note reading:
“If you are reading this, it’s probably because I’m unconcious. Here is my sister-in-law’s number - she’s a neurologist. My health insurance card is underneath my driver’s license. Here are all the numbers you need, and here is who you should get in touch with.”
But what if I lose my wallet??
I haven’t lost my wallet since 2002. Don’t lose your wallet!
Hope this helps…and curious…you planning on dropping dead soon? You might be overthinking a tad! Peace.
I know that under your membership details, THS has a “safety contact”. I see my son’s name and phone number is listed as my “safety contact”. So THS would know who to contact.
Hi @Romana, @Timmy, @Kelownagurl, @Joshua and @Globetrotter. Yes, there is a place to put your emergency contact info, in case something horrible happens to you while on a sit. Here are the details:
Definitely fill it in if you haven’t already. That way TrustedHousesitters would know who to contact in an emergency.
Where do you see that? I couldn’t find anything like that when I was looking for it, so if this button or reference exists it should be in a more prominent place. Once I find it - can I edit those details online?
Click on your name and then “settings”. On the top left hand corner you will see “account details”. Click on that and you will see “safety contacts”. Scroll down and you’ll see a place to enter emergency contact info.
Hi @Romana. If you follow the link to the conversation I pointed to in my reply above, it gives you all the info you need to find and update your safety contact.
Perfect, I found it! And the contact details are still valid, though it would be good to add some more information, not only a name and a phone number. Thank you!
Timmy, I don’t mean to be mean, but honestly, I think messaging a HO twice a day borders on harassment - unless they specifically requested it. How shall they be able to enjoy their holiday if you keep constantly reminding them of their home and, in the worst case scenario, bother them with all your problems in their home? I exchange messages only every 3/4 days unless asked otherwise, and then it’s most often just a little note such as “All good here, lovely sunny day” or a picture of their pet with the caption “Everyone happy here, enjoy your trip.” More shouldn’t be necessary, in my humble opinion.
I agree with you Romano. I personally can’t enjoy a sit where I’m expected to message the homeowner(s) constantly. It’s very stressful. I always say I will message you the first evening of the sit and then the next morning to let you know how the overnight went. Then I will message every two days if you’re comfortable with that.
Everyone’s different. Most of my HO love to get pictures or videos once or even more than once a day. I don’t bother them with questions or expect a reply, but they love to get pics of their pet(s). Most of my sits are usually not more than a week or two. If they were longer like yours, I’m sure my updates would be less frequent.
Back to original - it won’t matter if you are off somewhere that no on will find you but I-phones do have an emergency contact screen that can be opened without a pw. Be sure you put contact and other important medical info (allergies, conditions) there too. I’m sure android phones have a similar feature.
No one really wants to think about it, but I guess the cold, hard facts are, if a sitter is on a solo sit, only has contact with the home owner every 3-4 days, and passes away, the following scenarios will play out. Keep in mind, it’s really not too different to the same thing happening to the home owner, who might live alone and not be in constant contact with family.
If it’s in close proximity to neighbours, the animals might alert the neighbours that something is wrong, with constant barking or meowing. This might be around the same time the owner notices there might be an issue, and might try and contact neighbours to check in. Or vice versa, the neighbours might try and contact the owner to say something isn’t right.
The second scenario is a bit more challenging: If it’s not in close proximity to any neighbours, then it’s a bit unfortunate that no one might hear distress for a while. It’s hard to predict these things, but I do think it happens from time to time where thousands of owners are living with the same fears, but it’s easier to push it to the back of your mind. Life has a way to sort itself out.
Ultimately, yes, then the HO should contact THS and hopefully there will be emergency contacts noted on the file. But the first few days are going to be the hardest.
I guess there may be solutions like panic buttons or organised check-ins with friends/family (e.g. each person MUST send a short “I’m alive” text to a friend/group of friends every morning)…
Please owners, don’t discount solo sitters because this possible scenario has been brought up. The last time a similar scenario was mentioned on the forum it was the home owner who had died abroad and the sitters were worried about who would look after the animals when their sit came to an end. It was very difficult for them but managed very well and sympathetically by them. A good friend of the owner came to the rescue.
You might be overthinking a tad! Peace.