Putting ICE in your cell phone

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Putting ICE in your cell phone
By BILL HUGHES
whughes@thejournalnews.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS

ICE: In Case of Emergency

• Add emergency contacts beginning with letters, "ICE," followed by either a name, number or descriptive word like "dad" or "wife."

• Be sure to use number most likely to reach the person, listing cell phones first with work and home numbers as backups.

• Make sure the person whose name and number you are giving has agreed to be your ICE partner.




(Original publication: July 26, 2005)


After you read this, if you haven't already heard about putting ICE in your cell phone, it's highly likely that you are going to think, "Now why didn't somebody think of that a long time ago?"

In May, a paramedic in England received an award from a British-based cellular communications company for coming up with the idea to program contact information into cell phones under the heading ICE, an acronym for In Case of Emergency.

The idea came to paramedic Bob Brotchie after responding to several emergencies where unconscious victims had no identification, but did have cell phones with accessible contact lists. The British company Vodafone gave Brotchie an award in May and began a public awareness campaign.

After the recent bomb attacks in London, the idea rapidly gained momentum via the Internet and has now captured the attention and interest of local policymakers and emergency service workers in the United States and elsewhere.

"We think it's a fantastic idea that gives us another tool in the arsenal to help people when they're most in need of assistance," said Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, whose staff is preparing a public awareness campaign endorsing the practice. "It just goes to show you that sometimes the simplest things are the hardest things to figure out."

Residents are encouraged to enter the number of the person they want contacted in case of an emergency, starting with the letters ICE, followed by either a name, number or descriptive word like "dad" or "wife." Paramedics are now being advised to search contact lists beginning under the letter I when encountering an unconscious person with a cell phone.

Greenburgh Police Chief John Kapica, whose department includes a police paramedic unit, said getting information quickly about unconscious victims is crucial, especially in life-threatening situations.

"Sometimes in emergency situations, doctors will be hesitant to prescribe a certain drug or treatment because they don't know whether it will have an adverse effect or not based on the patient's history," Kapica said. "Some people have Medic Alert bracelets, but they can only tell you so much. With this, you could conceivably get some pretty in-depth medical information from someone who knows what medicines the person takes, whether or not they suffer from high blood pressure and so on."

Kapica recognizes that potential problems include the possibility that a cell phone could be damaged in an accident and that some users have password protection on their phones.

"It's not perfect, but it will give us more than we have now," he said.

Erin McGee, a spokeswoman for the trade group Cellular Telecommunication and Internet Association, said that there are approximately 192 million wireless subscribers in the United States, and that customers place roughly 200,000 calls to 911 annually.

Frequently, paramedics arrive at an accident scene and find a wallet with credit cards and a driver's license, but nothing with a telephone number, said Daryn Baia, director of communications for Empress Emergency Medical Services in Yonkers.

"The information is very generalized. Sometimes you get an address but the phone number may be unlisted," Baia said. "This would definitely speed up patient care in a lot of cases because nowadays, with everybody carrying cell phones, you'd probably be calling somebody on another cell phone, so you'd get the information you need right away."

Capt. William McNamara of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department said the practice would be very helpful for teenagers and pre-teens, who could program contact information for their parents into their phones.

"Most children in those age groups don't carry wallets with any kind of identification, but many of them carry the ubiquitous cell phone," McNamara said.

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[beachbum_al]

Interesting. I had never heard that before and was thinking at first why would someone put ICE on their Cell phone. I need to get my mind out of the bed and wake up. It is not working today.