Use ICE on Your Cell Phone
Have you heard about
ICE?
If a glass of water or a soft drink comes to mind, then you’re on the
wrong track.
This ICE refers to In Case of Emergency. More than cooling your liquid
refreshment, it may save your life.
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The ICE initiative was begun in Great Britain by
a paramedic who was frustrated by his inability to find emergency contact
information for too many of the victims he needed to treat and transport to a
hospital. He suggested people begin programming emergency contact information
into their cell phones so paramedics and EMTs could easily find it. The idea
spread quickly across Europe, especially after the London and Madrid train
bombings. Paramedics, EMTs, emergency room personnel and the public embraced the
idea.
ICE then crossed the Atlantic
to the US. Today it’s being promoted across the country by Mark Balduzzi, a
former law enforcement officer who wants those of us in the United States and
Canada to embrace it, too. Most emergency personnel know to look for ICE on a
cell phone. Now it’s time to educate the public to do the programming.
That’s where you come in. Here’s how it works:
Just as you add any of your other contacts to your cell phone, set up a new
contact and name it ICE. On the same line, input the name of your contact and if
you have room, that person’s relation to you, e.g. ICE – Jane Smith – wife.
Then fill in the rest of the contact information such as home phone, work phone,
cell phone – whatever it takes to find that person should you be unable to
respond in an emergency. If you want to have more than one contact person, call
him ICE-2.
You’ll want to add ICE to the cell phones for everyone in your family.
Programming your child’s phone to make you the ICE contact will give you some
peace of mind.
Next, using a permanent marker, write ICE somewhere on the cell phone. Or add an
official ICE sticker to the back. Make it obvious for emergency personnel to
find.
To get one of the official ICE stickers which looks just like the one in the
photo, send a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) to: ICE, PO Box 82,
Dewitt, NY 13214.
Then tell a friend to program ICE into her phone, too. It’s simple, and may be
lifesaving.
Learn more about ICE at About.com.
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Trisha Torrey is Every Patient’s
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She offers no medical advice,
but empowers those who
want to learn more about
diagnosis and treatment options
by
providing useful tools and
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