7 FAM 120
EMERGENCY FAMILY MESSAGES
(CT:CON-804; 04-30-2018)
(Office of Origin: CA/OCS)
7 FAM 121 Summary
(CT:CON-484; 09-13-2013)
In an era of cellular phones, email and Internet cafes,
the consular function of relaying emergency family messages regarding deaths in
the family or serious illness or injury arises less frequently. Nevertheless,
it is still an important consular function. Too often, families do not have a specific
itinerary for a relative traveling abroad, and your skill in trying to locate
the citizen or national may be the familys only hope of reaching the loved one
in a timely manner. You should handle reasonable requests thoughtfully and
expeditiously insofar as local conditions permit. The Smart Traveler
Enrollment Program (STEP) (see 7 FAM 040) may
be a useful tool for you in trying to locate individuals in these
circumstances.
7 FAM 122 Obtaining Information From
the Family
(CT:CON-705; 03-29-2017)
You may receive requests to pass emergency messages
directly from a U.S. citizen/U.S. non-citizen national in the United States or
abroad, an interested Congressional office, another Foreign Service post, or
the Department. After confirming whether the caller
would like the Department to provide information to the individual for purposes
of establishing contact or passing a message, you should take the
following actions:
(1) Obtain the following information:
(a) Callers full name, address, phone number, email if
available, and relationship;
(b) Name, date and place of birth of the person abroad;
(c) Passport number of person abroad;
(d) Last known address, itinerary (including airline and
flight number if known/applicable), and phone number of person abroad;
(e) Reason for travel/residence abroad;
(f) Date of last contact;
(g) Other points of contact abroad;
(h) If ill, where hospitalized and, if relevant to
current hospitalization, the name and phone number of attending physician in
the U.S.; and
(i) In cases of a family emergency:
Nature of the emergency
What the caller wants you to tell about the emergency
when you locate the person abroad;
Name, address, telephone number, and relationship of the
person whom the person abroad should call after you relay the message
(2) Evaluate the information above to determine the
most likely method of locating the intended recipient and delivering the
message directly. Do not rely on local mail to deliver your message.
(3) If the information you obtain is not complete but
you have an itinerary, you may locate the person indirectly by leaving a
message at one or several hotels, hostels, ashrams, etc., at which this person
would likely stay. You could ask immigration or customs officials to convey a
message at likely border crossings.
(4) If the person abroad has left your district for
another, you should pass that information along with the identifying
information that you received to the appropriate post for its action, with an
information copy sent to the Department.
(5) If you locate the person and deliver the message,
anticipate that you may also need to help the U.S. citizen or national return
quickly to the United States or respond to the message.
(6) Request a signed Privacy Act waiver from the
person to whom you have delivered the message if
the subject has asked you to contact anyone on their behalf (and no routine use
applies, see 7 FAM 060).
7 FAM 123 REPORTING ON EMERGENCY
MESSAGES
(CT:CON-101; 02-10-2005)
a. In most, if not all, emergency message cases that
the Department refers to a post for action, the post will also receive
instructions on how to notify the inquirer of the results of the search.
b. If you receive instructions to respond to the U.S.
citizen or national directly, include only the minimum agreed to between the
inquirer in the United States and the consular officer to whom he or she made
the request (either at post or in CA/OCS/ACS). e.g., in a case involving the
death of a family member in the United States, you generally will be instructed
to advise the individual that the family has asked that he or she call home.
c. If you receive instructions to reply to the
Department, you must provide full details regarding the search efforts and
results.
7 FAM 124 PRIVACY ACT CONSIDERATIONS
(CT:CON-705; 03-29-2017)
The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a; Public Law 93-579)
prohibits consular officers from releasing any "record" about an
individual U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident from our system of
records without the prior written consent of the individual in question or an
applicable exception. See 7 FAM chapter 060 Privacy Act guidance.
7 FAM 125 THROUGH 129 UNASSIGNED