Help in Any Situation

Before contacting the Emergency Communications Center (ECC), OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors will verify only calls requiring public safety assistance are routed to your agency.

• The caller will push the red Emergency button, which gives them a priority connection to a live OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisor.*9
• After triaging the call, the OnStar Advisor may contact the ECC with jurisdiction using the 911 ECC trunk or other high-priority access line. (Non-emergency situations requiring public safety assistance are routed to the ECC's 10-digit telephone number.)
• When a 911 ECC trunk line is used, the following may appear on the ANI/ALI display or CAD system (depending on system limitations):
  • Calling party: OnStar Call Center
  • Call-back number: 1.866.866.5006 (dedicated public safety number)
  • Incident location (X/Y or latitude/longitude coordinate data)
• The Advisor will verbally relay relevant incident information, including location (cross streets, X/Y coordinates, latitude/longitude), type of emergency and if EMD is in progress.  
• The Advisor can also establish voice conferencing with the caller, as appropriate, and will remain on the line with the caller until First Responders are confirmed on the scene and taking over care.
• Advisors will provide ECC call takers with the OnStar call-back number and the incident case number, allowing us to provide future reference and support.

Good Samaritan Calls

OnStar receives thousands of calls each month from "Good Samaritans" who want to be helpful and request assistance on behalf of someone else in need by reporting crashes, road hazards or criminal activity. OnStar provides this information, as appropriate, to ECCs so emergency help can be sent.

1. The Good Samaritan contacts the OnStar Contact Center to report the hazardous or emergency situation involving someone else and the location is obtained.
2. OnStar will triage the call to determine the appropriate handling in order to minimize the number of duplicate calls delivered to the ECC.
3. If appropriate, the OnStar Advisor may provide emergency medical dispatch instructions and/or request police, fire and/or medical support be sent right away by contacting the appropriate ECC jurisdiction.
4. The Good Samaritan may choose to remain on the line to speak with ECC staff.
5. The OnStar Advisor will remain on the line with the Good Samaritan until help arrives at the scene, if needed.

Most newer OnStar-equipped vehicles with an active service plan are equipped with Automatic Crash Response.*3

In moderate to severe crashes, even without air bag deployment, built-in sensors in the vehicle can automatically send an alert to OnStar with important incident, vehicle and location information.

1. A live Emergency-Certified Advisor is connected into the vehicle to determine if the occupants are injured and may conference in a second Advisor to begin EMD.
2. Injury Severity Prediction (ISP) helps predict if there is a high probability of severe injury, taking into account critical crash data and seat occupancy. ISP is an algorithm that predicts the probability of severe injuries to occupants based on vehicle crash data. The ISP uses telemetry from the vehicle (Delta-V, direction of force, safety belt usage, multiple impacts) and age/gender (via voice contact) to determine if the risk of severe injury is “HIGH.” The ISP for each vehicle is available to the OnStar Advisor who can verbally relay the information to the ECC to help determine the appropriate dispatch response, patient care and transport decisions.
3. If the occupants are hurt and can't respond, an Advisor can contact the ECC to request emergency help be sent to the GPS location of the vehicle.
4. Vehicle information, including the year, make, model, color and fuel type, may also be relayed to the ECC by the Advisor.
5. In most crashes, an Advisor can also relay critical crash data, such as air bag status, direction of impact, if the vehicle rolled over and/or was involved in multiple impacts, driver occupancy, pedestrian protection activation if available and if the safety belt pretensioners were activated.
6. The Advisor can send a remote signal to sound the horn and flash the lights of the vehicle in order to help First Responders locate the vehicle.
7. Advisors will remain on the line with the occupants until First Responders arrive and take over care.

OnStar may be able to provide Vehicle Location Assistance*29 in emergency situations where law enforcement is treating a vehicle as stolen or trying to find a missing person. Law enforcement involvement is required, and will be verified, before providing the vehicle’s location to public safety only. Public safety is encouraged to contact OnStar on the dedicated public safety number 1.866.866.5006 with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to confirm how OnStar can assist in the beginning of the report process to begin location attempts as soon as possible.

Stolen Vehicle Assistance

OnStar Stolen Vehicle Assistance*5 continues to have the most comprehensive in-vehicle security service available. With industry-leading technologies, such as Remote Ignition Block™ and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown^®, public safety can rely on OnStar as a partner to assist with the quick and safe recovery of stolen vehicles.

There are two typical scenarios for initiating Stolen Vehicle Assistance, depending on which party contacts OnStar.

1. A vehicle owner contacts OnStar after a vehicle has been stolen. OnStar then links the vehicle owner with law enforcement to initiate a report or confirm if one has been started.
2. In the second scenario, law enforcement contacts OnStar after the owner reports the vehicle as stolen. OnStar then contacts the ECC to verify the report before providing the location to law enforcement.

• OnStar can pinpoint the location of the stolen vehicle using GPS technology and aerial imagery, then provides this information to authorities. Advisors may also provide the direction of travel and speed the vehicle is traveling.
• An OnStar Advisor can send a Remote Ignition Block signal to the stolen vehicle, preventing it from being restarted once the engine has been turned off.
• If the vehicle is still running, the Advisor can activate Stolen Vehicle Slowdown once law enforcement confirms clear sight of the vehicle and indicates conditions are appropriate. The vehicle will slow down to an idle speed of 3–5 mph with steering and braking functions intact. 
• Once recovered by law enforcement, an Advisor may need to send a signal to restore the vehicle's services so it can resume normal driving operations.

Missing Persons

There may be emergency situations that do not involve a stolen vehicle where public safety officials request OnStar assistance in determining vehicle location involving a missing person. Situations include individuals who may be suicidal, endangered or have dementia/Alzheimer's.  OnStar will attempt to locate a vehicle for this purpose.  

OnStar requires a missing person report be initiated for these situations in order to work with law enforcement to help locate the vehicle of the missing person. 

Law enforcement must also confirm the vehicle location is not being sought for any other purpose. If an individual is missing, but also under criminal investigation, law enforcement must provide a court order before OnStar can assist. (See Criminal Investigations.)

In life-threatening situations, such as a carjacking or kidnapping, OnStar will immediately contact Law Enforcement and begin attempts to locate the vehicle.

Questions and additional information can be obtained by contacting our dedicated public safety number 1.866.866.5006, prompt 2.

This section describes what OnStar requires to disclose the following categories of OnStar Member (“Member”) information in the United States. In accordance with our terms, conditions, policies, and applicable law, OnStar will review each request individually to assess the circumstances and the nature of the request before providing any Member information.

VEHICLE LOCATION AND CONTENTS OF ONSTAR COMMUNICATIONS

If available, OnStar may supply vehicle location and contents of communications subject to: 

• A warrant or court order supported by a showing of probable cause; or
• Member consent.

BASIC MEMBER INFORMATION (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: NAME, ADDRESS, AND LENGTH OF SERVICE)

If available, OnStar may supply basic Member information subject to:

• A warrant or comparable court order supported by probable cause;
• A court order issued under 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(d);
• An administrative, grand jury, or trial subpoena; or
• Member consent.

OTHER INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE THE CONTENTS OF COMMUNICATIONS (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: DATES OF ALERTS, VEHICLE INFORMATION, CRASH DATA, AND LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS)

If available, OnStar may supply other information subject to:

• A warrant or comparable court order supported by a showing of probable cause;
• A court order issued under 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(d); or
• Member consent.

REQUESTS FOR INTERCEPTIONS OR REAL-TIME ACCESS TO CALL-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

OnStar is not able to facilitate interceptions of communications or real-time access to call-identifying information. In the United States, such requests should be directed to AT&T.

How to Request Information

To the extent OnStar is able to provide information as described above, you may serve a request for information through OnStar’s registered agent, Corporation Service Company (CSC). You can obtain a local address for CSC by calling 1.888.690.2882.

For proper routing, address requests in the following format:

• To: OnStar LLC, C/O CSC [Insert address provided by CSC]

When you submit a request, please include:

• The date and time of the relevant occurrence(s);
• A description of the information you are seeking (e.g., vehicle location or account records); and
• The associated legal basis for your request.

If your request involves an OnStar Good Samaritan call, please provide:

• The date of the call; and
• The OnStar case number provided to 911 dispatch by OnStar.

To help OnStar comply with your request, please provide the following information (if available):

• Full name; 
• Mailing address including ZIP code;
• Phone number;
• OnStar account number;
• Vehicle identification number (including year, make, and model); and
• OnStar Hands-Free Calling number.

Call Recordings

OnStar does not create or provide transcripts of audio recordings, and OnStar cannot guarantee that any audio recording was taken at the time of a call or that it can be retrieved, given OnStar’s limited retention of such audio recordings. OnStar may, upon written request, be able to preserve available information until you can obtain appropriate legal process.

Consistent with 18 USC 2702(b)(8), (c)(4), OnStar may act in good faith when OnStar believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay of communications relating to the emergency.

Crisis Assist*16a provides Members access to many OnStar services in the event of a weather emergency, natural disaster, power outage, hazardous materials spill, and other types of man-made or natural crisis situations. Regardless of their current plan, these services are at no additional cost to the Member to help them stay safe. This includes situational information, assistance with evacuation or alternate routes, identifying available hotels and making hotel reservations, finding open shelters, connecting Members to emergency services or loved ones, etc.

OnStar's Command Center monitors severe weather and disaster activity across North America 24/7, so we are prepared to assist Members and public safety professionals at a moment's notice. The Command Center works to gather relevant situational information from emergency management and response organizations to share with our Advisors to facilitate support of Members' needs. When an OnStar Advisor receives a call from a Member, Advisors are notified of crisis activity occurring in the vicinity of the Member's location and provide guidance, as needed.

If a Member is locked out of his or her vehicle with active OnStar service, they can take the following steps:

1. Call 1.888.4ONSTAR (1.888.466.7827).
2. Verify account information.
3. A remote signal is sent to the vehicle that usually unlocks the doors.
4. This service is available anytime, day or night, with no limits on how often a Member can call for help.

Members may also use their vehicle's mobile app to remotely unlock the doors.