IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

The American Society of Safety Engineers has joined with rescue personnel in asking people to program emergency phones numbers into their cell phone address book.

 “In Case of Emergency,” or ICE, contacts in your cell phone address book would allow rescuers to more easily reach family members or emergency contacts in case an illness or accident renders you unconscious.

With over 190 million people in the US with cell phones and even more worldwide, ICE can help emergency personnel to more quickly identify an injured individual and their next of kin in minutes instead of hours. Making ICE a common practice will in turn encourage police, fire and other emergency personnel to check cell phones in emergencies.

Even if you carry personal identification, such as a driver’s license, it is still recommended to use ICE, because an ID does not contain the names and phone numbers of next of kin, medical history or any other information that emergency personnel may need in rendering assistance.

Individuals can program a new contact in their cell phone address book with the letter’s ICE followed by the name and phone numbers of their emergency contacts. If adding more than one ICE contact, mark the primary contact as ICE 1, such as ICE 1- John Doe, ICE 2 - Jane Doe, and so on.

It would be very helpful if the ICE contact had basic information about you, such as your nearest family member, primary physician, work contact, basic medical history, a list of allergies, current medication.

Individuals under the age of 18 should list the guardian, mother or father as their primary ICE contacts.

Art Torres
May 4, 2006