About Us

Laura and Janet Greenwald, Creators/Authors/Executive Producers

Jan and Laura are one of the only mother/daughter writing teams in the entertainment industry. They began their careers in production on network sitcoms at MGM and Warner Bros.

The Greenwalds were introduced to emergency preparedness the hard way, when a jumbo-jet crashed across the street from their home. But it was a horrendous medical tragedy – one that took the life of their mother/grandmother, Elaine Sullivan – that propelled them into new territory.

When Elaine’s hospital failed to notify Jan and Laura of her hospitalization they were not only prevented from being at her side, but they were also kept from preventing the drug interaction that took Elaine’s life.

After uncovering a loophole in the laws which regulate the notification of the next of kin of hospital patients, Laura & Jan joined forces with legislators in Illinois and California to enact three Next of Kin Laws, before creating Notify In 7, a training program that provides hospital professionals with the skills they need to notify and reunite trauma victims with their loved ones, quickly and easily. Hoping to keep other families from experiencing the same thing they had, they turned their story into a screenplay called Without Consent.

Between their books, blog and website, over 1.3 million people have used Jan and Laura’s shortcut sheets, action plans and materials to keep themselves, their homes, their families and the things that they love, safe and secure.

The Story Behind Connected & Without Consent

Our book Connected and movie Without Consent are very personal to us, because we found out the hard way, how vital it is to keep your family safe no matter where they are – even when they’re in the hospital. In fact it’s imperative to have that part of your lives absolutely organized, armor-plated, undefeatable and secure.

We’ll never forget the day we realized it wasn’t.

Elaine Sullivan was an active seventy-one year old living on her own in Chicago. One day while getting ready to take a bath, she slipped and fell, striking her head and mouth on the side of the tub. Her neighbors realized they hadn’t seen her all day and called the paramedics, who went in and found her, conscious, but unable to speak.

She had previously been a patient at the hospital she was taken to, she had Medicare, supplemental insurance and everything she needed. Or so we thought.

Even though she was stable, injuries to her mouth made her unable to speak for herself. Over the next few days, after a series of serious medical errors and a critical drug interaction, her condition worsened. Elaine Sullivan was my mother.

Despite the fact that the hospital had my daughter Laura’s and my contact information for our home in Los Angeles, the hospital neglected to call us for 6 1/2 days. By the time they finally called to tell us that she’d been hospitalized, she was in critical condition and we weren’t able to get to her before she died, unnecessarily and completely alone.

As we found out later, she died because the hospital gave her medication that caused a fatal interaction with a prescription she was already taking. Why? Because the doctors treating her didn’t have her medical or prescription drug history at their fingertips.

One simple thing would have prevented her death.

An ICE Contact.

An in case of emergency contact that you place on your smartphone that details emergency contacts along with basic medical, prescription drug and allergy information.

Since then, through our blog, our book Connected and our revolutionary 2 Minute ICE Contact, we’ve become the foremost ICE educators in America. The moral of the story is that you never know what piece of information, no matter how small, might save the life of someone you love.

Are you ready to armor-plate your family? Then take a moment to purchase a copy of the book.

Without Consent

Since we’re writers though, there’s more to the story. Laura and I felt strongly about finding a way to keep the same thing from happening to anyone else’s family, so we did what we do best. We turned it into a movie, that we’re currently developing, called Without Consent. Here is a little more about it.

Does a hospital have the right to treat a patient who can’t communicate, without consulting her family, her doctor, or her medical history?

For six days?

One hospital did and it cost a 71 year old woman her life. Can her daughter and granddaughter keep the same thing from happening to anyone else?

Without Consent, is a feature screenplay written by Janet Greenwald & Laura Greenwald. Jan and Laura, one of the only mother and daughter writing teams in the industry, wrote Without Consent after the circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Jan’s mother Elaine Sullivan, propelled the duo into the world of healthcare and politics as they fought to enact the lifesaving Next of Kin healthcare laws in California and Illinois.

From this story, which was inspired by actual events, came three healthcare laws in two states, the Next of Kin Education Project, an organization dedicated to patient and family safety and their books Connected, Ready and Get Your Stuff Together.

Laura and Janet Greenwald, Creators/Authors/Executive Producers

Jan and Laura are one of the only mother/daughter writing teams in the entertainment industry. They began their careers in production on network sitcoms at MGM and Warner Bros.

The Greenwalds were introduced to emergency preparedness the hard way, when a jumbo-jet crashed across the street from their home. But it was a horrendous medical tragedy – one that took the life of their mother/grandmother, Elaine Sullivan – that propelled them into new territory.

When Elaine’s hospital failed to notify Jan and Laura of her hospitalization they were not only prevented from being at her side, but they were also kept from preventing the drug interaction that took Elaine’s life.

Between their books, blog and website, over 1.3 million people have used Jan and Laura’s shortcut sheets, action plans and materials to keep themselves, their homes, their families and the things that they love, safe and secure.

The Story Behind Connected & Without Consent

We’ll never forget the day we realized it wasn’t.

She had previously been a patient at the hospital she was taken to, she had Medicare, supplemental insurance and everything she needed. Or so we thought.

Even though she was stable, injuries to her mouth made her unable to speak for herself. Over the next few days, after a series of serious medical errors and a critical drug interaction, her condition worsened. Elaine Sullivan was my mother.

As we found out later, she died because the hospital gave her medication that caused a fatal interaction with a prescription she was already taking. Why? Because the doctors treating her didn’t have her medical or prescription drug history at their fingertips.

One simple thing would have prevented her death.

An ICE Contact.

An in case of emergency contact that you place on your smartphone that details emergency contacts along with basic medical, prescription drug and allergy information.

Since then, through our blog, our book Connected and our revolutionary 2 Minute ICE Contact, we’ve become the foremost ICE educators in America. The moral of the story is that you never know what piece of information, no matter how small, might save the life of someone you love.

Are you ready to armor-plate your family? Then take a moment to purchase a copy of the book.

Without Consent

Does a hospital have the right to treat a patient who can’t communicate, without consulting her family, her doctor, or her medical history?

For six days?

One hospital did and it cost a 71 year old woman her life. Can her daughter and granddaughter keep the same thing from happening to anyone else?

From this story, which was inspired by actual events, came three healthcare laws in two states, the Next of Kin Education Project, an organization dedicated to patient and family safety and their books Connected, Ready and Get Your Stuff Together.

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