"ICE" your cell phone - Worth reading...

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I still can't really get behind the whole ICE concept. Having enough experience in the field, someone's cell phone is the last of my concerns on any scene. If someone's in bad enough shape that they can't answer questions than I have other things that are far more important to worry about. The hospital will search for an ID and other important information in the patients wallet and their belongings. A cell phone is simply going to end up in a belonging bag and put in a locker. Who's to say that the cell phone is the patient's? It would be a bad thing for your emergency contact to get a phone call saying that something has happened to you only to find out that it was really someone else's phone that they were holding. Someone would have a lot of explaining to do for that. When you look for a license or other ID, it has a photo that you can confirm who you're dealing with. From there, you can than make the notifications to the proper people with far less risk of getting the wrong person. As someone in the field of EMS, my suggestion is still to carry an "In case of Emergency contact:" card in your wallet with your license. We'll learn far more by looking through your wallet than looking through your phone.
Shane
 
I just added one in like Mishelle's idea! I dont think ICE is real, but Mishelle's will work.
 
ehfireems:
I As someone in the field of EMS, my suggestion is still to carry an "In case of Emergency contact:" card in your wallet with your license. We'll learn far more by looking through your wallet than looking through your phone.
Shane

One other thing that you can put on that card is any medical conditions, such as allergic to XX medicine or currently taking YY medicine.

I don't think that ICE is a bad idea, but doing both wouldn't hurt. I just don't think that ICE has been promoted in the EMS industry like the "chain emails" have
made it out to be.
 
I too have entries for "home" and "mom and dad" in my cell phone list. But I think in the case of an emergency I would like my wife contacted. So my wife's cell phone number under ICE wouldn't hurt, how hard is it to make another entry anyway.
 
mike_s:
One other thing that you can put on that card is any medical conditions, such as allergic to XX medicine or currently taking YY medicine.

I don't think that ICE is a bad idea, but doing both wouldn't hurt. I just don't think that ICE has been promoted in the EMS industry like the "chain emails" have
made it out to be.

I wear a dog tag with that info. I started doing it on trips after a diabetic in our group who'd been drunk the night before passed out on the dock while we were out diving, but he'd not told anyone he was diabetic, and didn't wear any info. Now wear the tag all the time. No big deal, and I'll be in the habit as my info becomes more important with aging.

dlndavid:
I too have entries for "home" and "mom and dad" in my cell phone list. But I think in the case of an emergency I would like my wife contacted. So my wife's cell phone number under ICE wouldn't hurt, how hard is it to make another entry anyway.
Most cell phone today will accept 500 numbers. (I remember when it was 40.) I put both of my daughter's numbers under ICE.

It may be that the hospital folks won't look deep enough to find both, or won't even look, but this is not a bad idea.
 
Possible ICE on Florida roads
Sunday, July 24, 2005
The recent bombings in London gave a British paramedic an idea.

The idea was to put a ICE -- In Case of Emergency -- numbers in cell phones.

If the cell phone owner had an accident or medical condition that prevented him or her from telling medical personnel the names of family members to call, the responder could simply look under ICE in the cell phone for the right number.

The ICE idea came from British paramedic Bob Brotchie after the recent London terrorist bombings. When Brotchie responded to bombing scenes, he often didn't know which phone number to call to get important information about the patient.

Brotchie thought it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for people to file next-of-kin phone numbers under in their cell phones, and the ICE campaign was born.

The campaign is growing. It's circulating throughout the globe, including into the Bay area, through the Internet.

Polk County resident Roger Wise says he plans to program an ICE number in his cell phone.

"I think it's a good idea," Wise said.

But Bob Jackson, a supervisor with Polk County Emergency Medical Services, says he doesn't think the ICE numbers would be of any use to paramedics in the U.S.

"I don't want them (family members) coming to the scene," Jackson said. "We're going to be off the scene quicker (if family isn't there). "And it doesn't help to have extra people on the scene upset, understandably upset, but still sometimes in the way."

And there's another problem. Paramedics have HIPAA laws to follow. Those laws generally prohibit the disclosing of health information to other parties, even family members, without a patient's consent.

"I can't give them information," Jackson said. "I can ask them, but I can't tell them what happened to the patient, by law."

Jackson agrees there are some situations where an ICE number programmed into a cell phone would come in handy, such as when a person has a stroke. Bystanders can contact that person's family.

Jackson also gave another example.

"I had an Alzehiemer's patient who left the house to get cigarettes in Sarasota," he said. "We picked him up here in Haines City. I could call the family and say, 'We have your husband. Where do you live?' Because he didn't know where he lived."

While having an ICE number programmed in a cell phone can't be of help in every situation, some say it also can't hurt. Brotchie, the British paramedic, said he's already heard of success stories where a programmed ICE number helped emergency workers gather important information about a patient quickly.
 
Like someone said above most mobile phones will store endless amounts of info these days.

I think the ICE thing is good because whoever is saving you might not have the luxury of time to go through all your numbers. It would save so much time to go straight to the entry ICE.

Here in the third world however the mobile phone is the first to disappear in cases of accidents and whatnot. haha
 
My rig averages 16 calls a day and we all had blank looks over this one.

Asked the meatwagon guys and they had never heard of it either.

If you really, really want us to know the info, have it put on a MedicAlert bracelet and wear it.

All the best, James
 
Good idea. I put .if lost and my number and .emergency and my wifes. The "." puts it right up front. It will probably help more if a lose the stupid thing. I also carry a card in my wallet with emergency numbers. Why not?
 
While it's not going to hurt anything to put this in your phone, I have to agree with ehfireems and fdog. It's almost totally worthless to us in the field. We're not going to spend the time looking for the cell phone and going through the contact list. You're way better off with the MedicAlert bracelets and putting emergency contact info in your wallet. We're not even looking for contact info in the field. We'll treat to the best of our ability and transport, and usually we look for a purse if it's a woman. We hand this off at the hospital and let them make the necessary contacts. We're NOT looking for cell phones, so DON'T rely on this as your only method of contact.
 

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