Foreign Office launches new service to help find citizens in an emergency - 

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) today launches a new service called LOCATE which will help it to track down Britons in the event of a crisis abroad, as a survey* reveals that two thirds of us don’t actually know where our travelling loved ones are and over half of us go abroad without leaving details of our trip with friends and family.

From today people will be able to help the FCO to find them in a crisis by registering details of their foreign trip as well as emergency friend and family contact details at ‘LOCATE’, which is available on the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk by clicking on the LOCATE icon.

FCO has created LOCATE in response to the changing face of travel. More people are travelling today than ever before, with an estimated 68,000,000 foreign trips made by British nationals in 2006. Of those who go abroad, 96% take up to three trips a year and more than five million of us stay abroad for a year or more.

We’re also travelling to traditionally more unstable regions. But it’s not just in remote, exotic places where a crisis can happen, as demonstrated by last summer’s fires in Greece and bombings in recent years in popular resorts like Turkey , Egypt and Bali .

Although the chances of being directly involved in a crisis are small, a fifth of Brits say they have been abroad during an incident and felt compelled to let someone at home know they were OK. But communication is often difficult at those times and not knowing an individual is safe can lead to worry for friends and family and a diversion of consular assistance away from those who really need it.

LOCATE is a two-way service and in the event of an emergency worried family members can register details of a loved one who may be caught up in the incident. If the traveller also confirms with the FCO that they are OK, LOCATE will match the two bits of information and the good news can be quickly passed to relatives.

Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn, said: “It’s great to get off the beaten track when we’re away from home, but things can change very quickly in any country. In our survey more than nine out of 10 Britons said they would feel reassured to know that in the event of an emergency abroad, the local Embassy could quickly find their location. Telling us where you will be, whether it’s a short trip or you’re travelling for a year, could help us either to get to you if you are in trouble, or know that you are safe so that we can concentrate our resources on helping those in need.”

The FCO advises that travellers simply add LOCATE to their usual pre-travel checklist:

Get comprehensive travel insurance
Find out about vaccinations
Research the local laws and customs of your destination/s
Take photocopies of important documentation or store copies online using a secure data storage site
If travelling in Europe , take your EHIC
Register details of your trip with LOCATE. Go to the FCO website home page www.fco.gov.uk and click on the LOCATE link.

16 May 2008