Sunday, March 25, 2012

Its nice to have ICE

Like they ask in the theme song to the movie Ghost Busters - "Who ya gonna call?"

ICE - In Case of Emergency
Have you put ICE in your mobile phone?

Eight out of ten people carry no next-of-kin or emergency contact details with them. Yet 80% (or more) carry a mobile phone, most of whom have it with them all the time.

There is no simpler way of letting the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel know who to contact should you be involved in an accident than by using ICE.

Standing for In Case of Emergency, ICE entries in your phone's contact directory will allow ambulance crews and police officers to quickly contact a nominated person who can be informed of the incident.  Putting "ICE" along with a name and telephone number will enable the emergency services to contact your family in the event of an emergency.  Most emergency responders are trained to look in the contact directory of an injured person's mobile phone and see if there are any ICE entries.

Multiple entries are always a good idea.  If your only ICE contact is with you in an accident, then the emergency responders won't have an alternate person to call.
  1. Type the acronym ICE followed by a contact name (for example, ICE - mom or ICE - David) into the address book of your mobile phone. 
  2. Save their phone number to both your SIM card and your phone's internal memory - if the phone is broken they may still be able to read the SIM card.
  3. Tell your ICE contacts that you have nominated them.
The other half of the equation:  Sign a Medical Power of Attorney (POA) for each person on your ICE contact list.  Telling them you are injured is one thing, allowing them to do something about it is another.

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