ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
February 9, 2009
Here’s a good suggestion for helping emergency first responders (paramedics, firefighters, police officers) help you in case of an emergency and you are unconscious and unable to let them know who is your emergency contact person.
ICE stands for (In Case of Emergency) and the idea is to add "ICE" as a contact name in your cell phone contact list with the information of the person you want contacted if you have been in an accident and are unconscious and can’t speak for yourself. Most people carry cell phones and it’s easy to enter in one ICE contact, or several (ICE1, ICE 2, ICE3) contacts.
The ICE program was conceived around 2005 and promoted by a British paramedic encouraging people to enter emergency contacts in their cell phone address book under the name "ICE: Emergency responders often find cell phones of the people involved in accidents, but they aren’t sure which one to call in the event of an emergency involving that person. With an ICE contact, emergency personnel and hospital staff can quickly contact the right person by dialing the number you have stored in your phone as "ICE". The popularity of the program spread across Europe, Australia and has started to grow in the United States.
ICE is another way to help emergency first responders help you when you are unable to speak for yourself in an emergency. Advocates of the program still encourage people to also put emergency contact numbers in their purses and wallets. Anyone who puts in a pin lock on their cell phone use should realize that paramedics won’t be able to access their contact list or the ICE number.
Editor’s Note: We contacted the Sublette County Emergency Medical Services to see if "ICE" is something our local emergency responders are aware of and encourage. "We do support this idea," said Pinedale EMS Supervisor Wil Gay. "When it first came out we notified our staff to do this with their personal phones. The likelihood of someone being in an accident or found unconscious with no family or friends around is high and it would help us in being able to find out critical information relating to the patient and any possible medical history."
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