ICE Your Cell Phone for Emergencies

There are almost 200 million cellular phone users in the United States. And if you have a cell phone, odds are good you carry it whenever you leave the house. This little piece of electronic equipment is not just a communication device! It could also save your life in the event of an emergency.

This new initiative was introduced by Bob Brotchie, a British paramedic, and was recently discussed at a meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians. In Brotchie's experience, it took time - sometimes too much time - to search through a patient's belongings to find the name and phone number of an emergency contact.

ICE - which stands for In Case of Emergency - can help paramedics and hospital personnel get in touch with your loved ones if you're unable to speak or communicate. In many cases, medical officials search through the patient's wallet for contact information. But although most of our wallets contain identifying information about ourselves, it rarely contains names and phone numbers for our loved ones.

More and more medical personnel are starting to check cell phones for emergency information. To ICE your cellular phone, go to your cellular phone's contact list or phone book and place the letters ICE before the name of the person you wanted contacted in the event of an emergency. This is preferable to simply labeling the contact as "Mom" or "Dad," since elderly parents may be unable to properly communicate about your health status.

If you should get in an accident and are unable to communicate - for example, you're unconscious - emergency medical personnel can access your cell phone, find ICE, and immediately dial the "In Case of Emergency" person in your contact list.

Some things to consider:

•The person you choose should be someone who is familiar with your health history, such as any health problems or allergies to medicines. Moreover, choose someone who usually answers the phone (not someone who screens calls or keeps their cell phone turned off).