July 25, 2005
ADD SOME 'ICE' TO YOUR CELL PHONE
One of the more difficult situations faced by paramedics and emergency room nurses and doctors is how to locate an emergency contact or next of kin for a person who is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond to questions in an emergency situation. Even if you're carrying one or more forms of identification, those items don't necessarily provide information about where and how relatives or other interested parties can be reached if you're seriously injured.
But now, thanks to a U.K.-based paramedic named Bob Brotchie, all of us with cell phones have a relatively simple way of sharing In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact information with anyone who may need it. Simply enter your emergency contact person's phone number(s) into your cell phone, and label the entry "ICE-[NAME HERE]". That's it; that's all you have to do. It's a convenient and universal way of alerting paramedics, police, fire, Red Cross, and other emergency services personnel to the name(s) and phone number(s) of who you feel should be contacted in the case of an emergency.
Mind you, in order for this to really work, your cell phone has to remain with you at the time of the emergency. While most people's wallets and purses do contain some items bearing photographs that can be matched to their owners (such as driver's licenses), a cell phone doesn't necessarily provide any direct means of identifying its owner. And while any form of ID can become separated from the person bearing it, a cell phone is an object frequently carried in hand or on the waist, greatly increasing the chances of its loss in an accident.
In the case of serious blunt-force accident, a cell phone can be damaged to the point where the information stored in it is no longer retrievable. This is also true of other forms of identification (a piece of paper or a card can be rendered unreadable by fire or water damage), but non-electronic devices will generally survive falls or impacts that might otherwise render cell phones non-functional.
Still, whatever the drawbacks, carrying some form of ICE information is better than none, so if this cell phone-based campaign prompts some people who aren't already doing so to start, I'd say it's a worthwhile effort.
Beware though... upon hearing of this idea, some skeptics may share 'hoax' warnings about ICE. Apparently, someone with too much free time on their hands recently started a rumor that adding ICE to your cell phone's address book would trigger premium charges thanks to malicious text messages or viruses randomly sent to phones to scan for such entries. Not to worry... adding an ICE entry to your cell phone's address book WILL NOT open your phone to a cell phone-based virus, nor will it automatically kick on a premium rate text messaging service. Think about it... if this were true, someone would have already developed a cell phone virus that searched for something way more popular that ICE... namely "MOM" or "WORK" and we'd all paying out our wazoos as a result.
Bottom line,,, if you have room in your cell phone's address book, consider adding "ICE - MOM" or "ICE - EDITH" before the names of the people you want to designate as an emergency contact. In the right situation, it just might end up saving your life.
Posted by Mikal at July 25, 2005 1:00 PM
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I heard about this idea while it was growing in Bellingham, WA. I have ICE NOKR.org in my cell phone. I found this free emergency contact resource called the National Next of Kin Registry. Also see nokr.org
I thought this was an American item but as I looked closer it was being used around the world with volunteers in 87 countries. Abbotsford is an innovative city that should implement this free service.
I registered my family and myself and printed free registration cards in case my cell phone was damaged our lost. My open concern for ICE is if someone found my cell phone and called the ice contact and asked them to send money or give a credit card, if I was hurt my father would do just that no questions. Or due to cell phone theft, there is the risk that unscrupulous persons will use the ICE numbers this should concern anyone before they endorse this.
In summary if you think outside the box on the ìwhat if factorî your ice-contact could be right next to you when your accident happens or he or she could be unavailable. With the nokr service itís always their 24/7 when you register. So by blending both ideas together you have a winning solution.
I thought I would share this with you.
And by the way, I check out everything before I sign up and found this link that reassured me that others were using this registry in other US states. Look under external links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_of_kin#External_Links
I just googled "next of kin" and found the above.
RC
