About Us
The idea of how iMERGENCiES came about
The company was founded by two friends: Jorge Pereira and Mark Rink.
From a very young age, Jorge Pereira (French-Portuguese) has shown a great aptitude for learning other languages. He is fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Jorge has worked in the insurance business for over 20 years and has several foreign clients.
Dutchman Mark Rink, moved to Portugal in the 90’s. He has a background in telecoms and owns a couple of other businesses including a “Removals management service”, which also put him in close contact with the foreign community living in southern Portugal. As a Dutchman, Mark is aware of the various difficulties faced by the non-Portuguese community living in this sunny part of the world.
The two friends realised, through their professional and personal journeys, that finding some address locations in the Algarve can be quite challenging. In some remote areas, street names and house numbers simply do not exist.
Their clients often stated that although their properties were beautiful, they felt quite unsafe. Their main concerns were that things could not get delivered to their door and the police or ambulance services were unable to find them quickly enough in an emergency. Additionally, the systems and methods of doing things and the language barriers posed significant challenges to providing effective and high‐quality healthcare.
OUR VALUES
iMergencies gives peace of mind, anytime, anywhere
Passion
We work with passion, entrepreneurial spirit and teamwork to serve our clients and people.
Expertise
We are committed to applying our professional expertise in order to deliver great quality services to our clients.
Respect
We treat all our stakeholders with respect and integrity in order to earn their trust.
Care
We care about our clients, members and employees and aim to make a real difference to their lives.
Coping with an emergency
By definition, an emergency is an unexpected, serious, and oftentimes hazardous situation that requires some type of immediate action (e.g. car accident, illness / hospitalization, etc.); a family emergency plan can help. Becoming a member and having an iMergencies emergency card may be the best way to prepare for such occurrences bringing you peace of mind.
When dialling – 112 – The national emergency number in Portugal, the operator may not speak your mother language, creating communication barriers which could put your life at risk.
This is where we feel we can make a difference. As a member you call us, and we will do all the talking for you. As well as being an intermediary between yourself and the emergency services, we will send the most appropriate emergency response to you and guide the medical team and/or the ambulance crew through any pre-existing medical conditions and medication being taken. We will also inform them of the fastest route to get to your address using a pre-drawn map stored on our database.
We make the difference
Customers who sign up for our service are requested to provide the GPS coordinates of the home / residence to the ‘iMergencies’ team members. In this way, a note is made of the most convenient way to gain access to the home.
For future reference the route is logged onto a computer-generated map.
Other useful details are put on file including blood group, current medication and allergies. A plastic card is issued carrying this information so that if the client should become incapacitated, essential health information is readily available.
Contact details of family members are recorded as well as details of key holders and neighbours. This helps ensure that if needed, practical matters can be attended to – such as arranging for animals to be looked after.
Last night I fell into the bathroom and was unconscious for about 10 minutes. Obviously a big shock for my wife, but she immediately called iMergencies. The help she received from your organization was truly grand. An ambulance was at the door in no time. We were also well taken care of in the Barlevento hospital. The only thing I have left of the fall is a bump on my head but that will pass. Once again, thank you very much for your help and we will, where possible, pass on our satisfaction to other people.
Nell and Geert Woudenberg
How grateful I am to the people at iMergencies. I was walking with the dogs on a Sunday when I stepped wrong and broke my ankle. Help was quick a side and my dogs were brought home and looked after. Even if you are not single, become a member of iMergencies, without iMergencies I would not have made it on myself, just the language, that paperwork and arranging everything, where should you go and what should you do. My thanks and a very great friendly greeting,
Bep Betjes
I just wanted to share a quick note and let you know that you guys do a really good job. Last week I went to the toilet and fell in the space in between the toilet and the wall, injuring my head. I could not move. Luckily, I had my alarm button on me and was able to press it. I am deaf, therefore, could not hear if someone was trying to speak back to me, so just kept pressing the alarm-button, until my key holder came in the house and lifted me up. I then found out that he’d received a call from iMergencies to go and check on me. The ambulance came in straight after. What a great service. Thanks, guys!
