In Case of Emergency _ ICE

[Ron]

An idea of a  East Anglian Ambulance Service paramedic Bob Brotchie and was launched in May
this year encouraging people to program a phone number on their cell phone of someone to contact in case of
an emergency under the name of ICE Thus giving emergency personel a contact number if needed.  Bob, 41, who has been a paramedic for 13 years, said: "I was reflecting on some of the calls I've attended at the roadside where I had to look through the mobile phone contacts struggling for information on a shocked or injured person.

A campaign encouraging people to enter an emergency contact number in their mobile phone's memory under
the heading "ICE" (i.e. In Case of Emergency), has rapidly spread throughout the world as a particular
consequence of last week's terrorist attacks in London.

It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc."

Also see this link for more information....

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

 

[Tom]

Good idea Ron, but how would emergency personnel know that the number was programmed under the name ICE? The paramedic in question lives in the UK, so how would he get emergency services across the U.S. to recognize ICE?

I have HOME programmed in my phone in addition to a group of numbers under FAMILY.

 

[Karl]

Ron, Good idea and Tom, Good question. If correct, I believe 911 is not worldwide for emergency services either. I talk with several First Responders and Paramedics almost daily, and I'll get their opinions on what would work best and report back here.

 

[Tom]

I believe 911 is not worldwide for emergency services either.

No it's not Karl e.g. the UK uses 999 which dates back to the times of rotary dial phones and the need to prevent false alarms by young kids if, for example, the number was 111, 222, etc.

 

[Ron]

Apparently there is a movement to make the ICE idea a standard world wide.  I thought it sounded like a good idea.  Maybe if we liseted it as Emergency - ICE or something like that.

 

[Tom]

I suspect that language and other factors might get in the way Ron. Might make sense if the WW standard required a common number be designated as the "emergency contact" number. e.g. if it was 333 or whatever I'd have Chris' number programmed under that entry.

I thought it might sense to mandate that cell phones be manufactured with a special button, but it might take a long time to replace all the cell phones in the world.

 

[Ron]

Whether the idea takes hold here in the US or not I thought it to be an excellent idea and will program our old 6 or 7 year old Nokia phone accordingly hoping that if a situation arises and they find our cell phone a call will be placed to one of the numbers under emergency.

Of couse the best thing would be not to have such a situation come up.

 

[Karl]

As promised, I talked with several professionals today - firefighters, paramedics, ambulance drivers, a local police officer and a state patrol officer. All agreed that it would be a good idea to have a common entry in a cell phone, and all agreed to a suggestion by a paramedic that it should be NOK - Next Of Kin. It doesn't have to be the real next of kin, but the primary contact in case of an emergency or illness. NOK would be easily recognizable to almost anyone; not just emergency responders.

 

[Ned]

Even better than NOK is to use "Next of Kin" for the name.  No chance for missing the meaning.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the feedback from the pros Karl. NOK sounds more appropriate for calling someone to let them know you're deceased 

 

[John From Detroit]

I went ahead and programmed in a number under the listing I C E

I think some folks are confusing an emergency personal contact number (such as Next of Kin) with the local equivlent of 9-1-1 (US emergency number)

In the event of an "incident" such as a traffic accident here is the sequence

1: Incident occures
2: 9-1-1 (or 9-9-9 or whatever the I NEED HELP NOW! number is) gets called
3: EMS responds and does their thing, part of which is trying to contact someone to inform them that {name of victim} has been involved in an incident and is going hospital

To to this the EMS tec may page through the victim's cell phone's phone book

Somewhere, burried in all the entries like "Bunny ***** and SUZIE **** he finds an entry of
ICE or I C E he then hits the "Dial Button"

 

[Karl]

While "Next Of Kin" may sound rather dire, we are talking about dire circumstances; not just "Oh, I think I may have left the stove turned on - would you please check it?" type of calls. Employment and hospital forms may use wording such as "Emergency Contact" or "Name of Closest Relative", but the pro's I talked with agreed that NOK would be easy to educate people to and stand out in anyone's long list of phonebook entries. They didn't like ICE at all because of its' many other possible uses in names of businesses and the like. Next Of Kin spelled out would be o.k. if it weren't for the fact that it may get lost amongst other entries like "Nextel Office" or Ned's Phone" - you get the picture. I'm not saying that it must be NOK, but I think it is better left to the pro's to decide what would work best for them, and that's what I did.

I will draft an inquiry and send it to various agencies for their opinions. The idea is great, and even if the beaurocracy on such a global matter may delay adoption of such a plan, there's nothing that says we RV Forum community members can't adopt a system of or own. After all, we do spend much greater periods of time away from home than the non-RVing community, often with only other RV'ers anywhere near.

I have put NOK in my phone, and I urge other Forum members to do likewise and inform your friends, neighbors and business associates of your having done so. It's one of those things you hope you never need, but it doesn't cost anything and could prove very worthwhile. 

As before, I'll report back when I've received responses to my queries.

Karl 

 

[Tom]

Next question Karl - which number gets puts under NOK if there's more than one? If Chris is home she's likely to answer the phone &/or respond to the flashing message light. If she's not home, all bets are off. If she remembers to take her cell phone, there's a slight chance it's turned on. If it's on, coverage is a craps shoot. Voicemail on the cell - forget it, she doesn't pick it up.

Send an IM or text message to her phone? When she still had her Nok(ia) phone with AT&T her mailbox filled up daily with spam. Calls to customer service and visits to AT&T phone stores failed to turn it off. I finally got her a phone with a different carrier, but she won't look at any IM after the prior experience.

I've been fighting this stuff for so many years that, when we bought the Burb, I activated the in-car phone. It's the only "reliable" way I have of knowing she'll answer - since it turns the radio volume down it really gets her attention, but relies on her being in the Burb and driving. No voicemail on that phone either. Get her a pager? She'd tell me where to put it.

When I was still working someone once called me "Mr. reachable". I was reachable 24 hours a day - used to carry two cell phones (different carriers), a worldwide pager, and carried a luggable/laptop/notebook (depending on the year) wherever I travelled. Now folks complain "I left a voicemail on your cell phone". Cell phones don't work here at the house, so it's never on unless/until I get in the car.

Here's an interesting factoid, although it's a few years old: When I worked for a company supplying to cell phone manufacturers, it was estimated that 50% of the people in the world had never made a phone call. I suspect that percentage has dropped significantly over the last 5-10 years, since third world countries have been leap frogging the copper (land line) infrastructure and going directly to cellular.

Maybe what we need is maybe something printed on (or attached to) a drivers license or something that's universally carried.

 

[Ned]

Tom,

Sounds like you need a NOK other than Chris.

 

[Karl]

Tom,

Excellent question and one which we discussed but couldn't find an answer to.  You can't make someone answer the phone if they aren't there or don't want to. In the old days, Grandma would be home 24/7, but things have changed a lot since then. If phones could make multi-party calls, it would lessen that problem but could lead to even more confusion with emergency personnel trying to communicate with several people at once. Agreed, IM and mailbox/text messages are not the answer. Home security firms which have a live person to answer the phone could be provided with a list of names and numbers to try, but that hardly seems workable either. Sorry I don't have a good answer and the old saying "something is better than nothing" may sound trite, but maybe in this case it's true.

 

[Tom]

Karl

I knew it was a question without an answer, but had to ask. Wasn't trying to throw a wet blanket on the subject, but I've been trying to find good solutions to the "get hold of someone fast" question for a long time.

 

[Ron]

Interesting I talked to a local policeman in Lewistown, Mt and he had heard of ICE and knew it to mean In Case of Emergency when found on a cell phone directory.  He even knew that ICE-1 ICE2 etc indicated alternate emergency numbers if the first did not answer.  However he had no clue what NOK was and had never heard or read anything about it. He even knew where ICE originated and that there is a movement to make it widely know to emergency teams.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Ron. Didn't know that locals in Lewistown got to talk to the outside world 

 

[Ron]

I didn't ask where he got the information.  Heck maybe he read it here. ;D

 

[caltex]

Just heard them talking about ICE on as local talk radio program (Dallas).  When you guys get an idea it spreads fast!
Robert