ICE on your cell phone



kbone

New Member
Jul 20, 2005
88
0
0
I read an article in the Washington Post about an initiative started by a British paramedic regarding cell phones. In the article it discusses how it is difficult for first responders to figure out who to call In Case of Emergency (ICE). This initiative asks people to put entries in their cell phone directories with the prefix of ICE (e.g. ICE -- Wife or ICE -- Dad) to help identify who you would want called if you were injured and not able to respond.

As a cyclist I have seen several accidents in which the people involved were non-responsive. Maybe it is a good idea for all of us to join in this initiative?! I know I will.

Thoughts?
 
Very interesting idea. I think the only way it would work is if EVERYONE participated. I've never heard of this idea before, but especially for cyclists, it's a great idea :)

I'll add ICE to my phone too.
 
Neat idea. It doesn't matter if everyone participates or not. What matters is that all first responders know about it, which should be a far easier task than trying to get 100% participation...


...too bad I don't carry my cellphone with me when I ride.
 
spacelord said:
I just heard about it on the evening news tonight. so it must be catching on.
I hadn't heard of this before today when Telstra (Near monopoly phone company in Australia) sent an SMS message to all their mobile customers this morning. I must admit I just deleted the message straight away but now I think about it it's not such a bad idea.
 
kbone said:
I read an article in the Washington Post about an initiative started by a British paramedic regarding cell phones. In the article it discusses how it is difficult for first responders to figure out who to call In Case of Emergency (ICE). This initiative asks people to put entries in their cell phone directories with the prefix of ICE (e.g. ICE -- Wife or ICE -- Dad) to help identify who you would want called if you were injured and not able to respond.

As a cyclist I have seen several accidents in which the people involved were non-responsive. Maybe it is a good idea for all of us to join in this initiative?! I know I will.

Thoughts?

Not to put a dampner on this, I sent messages to all my friends in my address book. Someone wrote back to me to say that it was a hoax!! And that some unscrupulous people were trying to devise a virus to infiltrate ICE numbers.

But saying that if it is a hoax, and I hope it's not, I have still kept my ICE number on my phone, as it really good idea!!
 
LindaNo1 said:
Not to put a dampner on this, I sent messages to all my friends in my address book. Someone wrote back to me to say that it was a hoax!! And that some unscrupulous people were trying to devise a virus to infiltrate ICE numbers.

But saying that if it is a hoax, and I hope it's not, I have still kept my ICE number on my phone, as it really good idea!!

Check snopes.com - the virus warnings are a hoax. No such danger exists.
 
Jon Packard said:
Check snopes.com - the virus warnings are a hoax. No such danger exists.
True, as a technology pro, I can assure all readers that this is just silly! If there was a method to attack phones based on name, the hackers would easily have an existing target on most phones going for Mom or Home....

I heard about ICE a week or so ago, and was going to add an ICE entry. Thanks to this thread, I got a reminder.
 
I must comment on this since I am a firefighter and an EMT.
While this is a great idea in concept, it just won't really work on a scene. If someone is unresponsive and we need to get info from them, we aren't going to go mess with their cell phones. First, cells come in many shapes and forms, there is no real uniform way to find this ICE information. Sure, we rifle through the wallets to find info. I would suggest a simple solution. A bright yellow laminated card that contains all of your information, including your name, address, blood type, allergens, medical history, meds, Insurance info, and ICE stuff.

I like the idea of doing it in your cell, but you must keep it simple. Keep it as easy and obvious for those first responders. It makes it that much more efficient for us.
 
PMThor said:
...we aren't going to go mess with their cell phones. First, cells come in many shapes and forms, there is no real uniform way to find this ICE information.
I like the idea of doing it in your cell, but you must keep it simple. Keep it as easy and obvious for those first responders. It makes it that much more efficient for us.
I remember being in an emergency room with broken ribs and shoulder blade after my bike wreck. A nurse asked if she could call somebody for me, I handed her my cell phone and told her to look up my sister’s number. She handed it back to me and said, she didn’t know how to use my address book. It’s ridiculous to ask hospital and emergency medical people to learn to use the address books of dozens of different models of cell phones, with new ones coming out all the time.


For reasons not related to that accident, I ended up being put on anti-coagulants. I now wear a Medic Alert bracelet that has that info written on it. EMT’s are supposed to look for those things, and there is an 800 number they can call and get other info on file.


I’ve been told straight up not to have any more bicycle wrecks while on anti-coagulants, and so far have followed that advice.
 
Thing is, no one really wears those bracelets. Great idea too, but not many people feel comfortable wearing them. Keep something in your wallet.
 
PMThor said:
Thing is, no one really wears those bracelets. Great idea too, but not many people feel comfortable wearing them. Keep something in your wallet.
I actually do wear my Medic Alert bracelet, but I'm thinking I'll get the wallet card too. I do worry that the bracelet will not be found because it can slide under my wristwatch.