CANFIELD TWP., Ohio - It's a program that's been in place for 10 years now but isn't widely known in the state of Ohio,  drivers can choose to add two emergency contacts, or next of kin contacts, to their information in the state database. 

Parents can also choose to add the contacts to a child's identification card. 

Canfield Police Sergeant Josh Wells says it's information that can be vital in a tragic situation. 

Sgt. Wells says being able to pull up emergency contact information at the click of a button- rather than searching through a phone- can give law enforcement quicker access to family members in the event that something has gone wrong. 

Wells gave the example of a traffic accident in which the victim is unconscious or worse. If everyone included next of kin on their driver's license information, officers at the scene would immediately be able to find that person's family rather than attempting to track them down. 

Another scenario is that of a child's identification card. Sergeant Wells explained that if a child is found and has their card on them, police officers would be able to instantly alert their parents, rather than tracking information through several people and several systems. 

Not everyone has to include next of kin information on their driver's record- but it's something that Sgt. Wells says could benefit you or your family in an emergency. 

According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Next of Kin program has been available since 2008, however, a spokesperson says it hasn't been widely publicized. 

The Department of Public Safety says that each driver, or parent in the case of a child's ID card, can add two emergency contacts to their Bureau of Motor Vehicles record. 

Their website says that the information is kept in a secure database accessible only by the Ohio BMV and law enforcement.

There is no fee to add next of kin contacts to a record. 

The update can be done at any deputy registrar license agency in Ohio or online here.