ICE

JOHNSON CITY TEXAS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

ICE: In Case of Emergency

This is a nationwide program to encourage cell phone users to place an entry into their cell phone's telephone directory that is their designated contact in case of an emergency. Be sure that children and all loved ones with cell phones are aware of this and update their phone books accordingly.

This ICE contact is a helpful tool for emergency medical and rescue workers and hospital staff to use to determine who you want contacted if you are incapacitated.

Be sure to use a contact number where that person will most likely be able to take the call, such as their cell phone number rather than their home or work number. Be sure to tell your contact they have been nominated, so they in turn can be prepared to contact others on your behalf.

It is helpful to include a description of who the person is, such as "wife" or "mom". For example, the entry might be: "ICE Sharon wife". If you want more than one person called (or attempted if no answer), then use ICE 1, and ICE 2, etc.

Make sure your ICE partner knows about any medical conditions that could affect your emergency treatment - for example allergies or current medication or medical history. An excellent way to do this is to give them a copy of your Personal Medical Profile form that you carry in your wallet/purse (see Public Information section above). Since you and your cell phone may become separated in an accident (or it may be damaged), it is wise to still carry a water protected hardcopy medical profile form in your wallet.

Make sure if you are under 18, your ICE partner is a parent or guardian authorized to make decisions on your behalf - for example if you need a life or death operation.

Note, most cell phones will not allow you to put the same phone number into the phone book more than once. Therefore, you either have to edit the name of your emergency contact, or erase it and re-enter it with the new ICE name.

If you use a PIN number to prevent unauthorized access to your cell phone data, you should re-think the desirability of that with respect to the ICE concept.

For more details, see the web site where this originated in England. Click ICE and confirmation of authenticity: Confirm

Written By: George Cofran, BS, MBA, Paramedic