My friend Kelly (it is amazing to me how many Kelly’s I know!) sent me this in an email and I thought it was worth sharing with all of you.
Since this blog is really focused on the sharing of technology (when it makes sense) in a non-technical way. Picture this, your child is in a car or snowboard accident and they are unconscious. The “first responder” or EMT goes through the cell phone in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and they have no idea the codes your kid may have for you or another relative that could give medical consent or need notification.
This is so simple and if using this EMT speak helps them when you cannot do it yourself to say to them, “John is my point of contact in an emergency and here is his number.”
It costs nothing and it is a great idea – especially on your kids phones!
Paramedics are asking that everyone add at least one additional entry to their cell phone contacts list. Please add an ICE entry. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency.
This number should dial the person in your family that can respond to medical decisions if you (or your child) is injured or needs assistance.
If there is an accident, paramedics know to check cell phones for emergency contact information. Imagine taking a look and trying to figure out who to call out of the twenty (I have 178!) or more numbers on your phone?
By adding a contact entry that’s designated as an emergency contact number (ICE), you can make their job much easier and possibly save your child’s or your own life.
So program an ICE entry on your cell phone today, as a matter of fact, pull it out right now as you’re reading this entry. If you have more than one person the paramedics can contact in case of an emergency, you can add additional ICE numbers to your list. Your primary contact should be listed under ICE, then you can add the other contacts under ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc.
After you program ICE into your phone, have your spouse, your kids, your parents, and your friends do the same thing. If there are people in your life that you care about, they should all have ICE on their phones.