A new way of listing your Important Emergency Contacts in your Wireless Device is being introduced
from Europe and appears to be gaining support here in the states.This new movement within the EMS-Fire-Police Communities seems to be getting alot of press. I first saw this at Howard Forums last nite, and then saw it on a Hampton VA Televison Stations WEB Site. If you GOOGLE the subject you get even more hits. So I did a search of Blackberry Forum and didnt see anything listed, so allow me to bring you "Up To Speed"!!
Basically this is what they are looking for:
ICE-DAD 240-123-4567
ICE-Mom 240-673-0000
ICE-Family Doc 345-678-7645
For those that say it would mess up their spped dialing, or other Phone functions, remeber, it can always be a second set of entries tucked away at the end of your phone list. Just so when someone types in Search I then C and E (if it takes even 3 letters) and these names cwill appear. Now more from the news:
ICE is cool, emergency workers say
"In Case of Emergency" in your cell phone could help if you're knocked out.
BY NOVELDA SOMMERS
247-4767
July 27 2005, 3:04 PM EDT
Have you put your cell phone on ICE yet?
A broadly circulating e-mail claims emergency workers want cell phone users to store "in case of emergency" contacts in their mobile phones labeled with the acronym ICE. If you would want your mom contacted, she would be listed as, ICE-Mom, then her number.
Doing so would give police another tool for finding the families of people who, because of trauma or illness, can't speak for themselves.
The e-mail checks out: It's true there's a movement afoot to get consumers to ICE their contact lists. A paramedic with the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust on England's eastern coast came up with the idea. The emergency service teamed up with Vodafone, a U.K.-based cellular service provider, to publicize the campaign over there. Word spread via the Internet.
The Virginia State Police this week sent a letter to its troopers telling them motorists might be carrying this information on their phones, said Sgt. D.S. Carr, spokesman for the agency.
"Anything we can do to encourage people to help us with notification of next of kin is good," he said. "You'd be surprised how many accident cases we run across where the person has no ID on them. We do a lot of guessing and asking people who that person might be."
The state police Web site,
www.vsp.virginia.gov, also links to a national next of kin registry,
www.pleasenotifyme.org, where anyone can enter the contact information of whom they would want law enforcement to contact for them if they're incapacitated.
Cpl. James West, a spokesman for the Hampton Police Department, said he received an e-mail about the ICE campaign the same way many others have - from a friend. He didn't heed the advice, but he doesn't think it's a bad idea.
However, police should be cautious about peeking into people's cell phones, he said, especially if a crime may have been committed, lest they taint any evidence they should have gotten with a search warrant.
The ICE missive also found its way into the e-mail inbox of Karen Cobuluis, a spokeswoman for the National Emergency Management Association, a professional membership group based in Lexington, Kentucky.
"It's a great idea, and I actually did it," she said. "It seemed kind of hokey, but what could it hurt? I put my blood type in the memo line."
Police and emergency workers usually look in wallets for identity information and check for jewelry that could indicate blood type, allergies or infirmities, she said.
"Why wouldn't they try to find out as much as possible about a victim, if someone's lying there ill and unable to communicate?" she said.
Jim Masten, disaster programs coordinator for the Peninsula's Emergency Medical Services Council, said some responders might feel squeamish about flipping through a stranger's phone because of privacy concerns, even though he likes the idea of having another way to help victims.
"Maybe they could have a sticker or something on the phone that says it's OK for an emergency provider to look through your phone list," he said. "It's low on our priority list. If someone is unconscious or can't tell us who they are, we generally have higher priorities."
Copyright 2005,
Daily Press
ICE- In Case of Emergency This Could Save Ur Life!!
Ice
