Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were in an accident or other emergency and could not communicate with your rescuers? There is a standard procedure all paramedics follow at the scene of an accident if they find your cell phone.
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn’t know who to call.
Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.
The concept of ‘ICE’ is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell(mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name ‘ICE’ ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn’t know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as ‘ICE.’ For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!
It really could save your life, or put a loved one’s mind at rest . ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.
Katherine Forgaard-Pullen has been in the emergency planning field for over 25 years. She operates an emergency management consulting firm. Services offered include personal emergency preparedness planning, emergency planning for businesses and business resumption planning. She can be reached at forgaardpullenconsulting@sympatico.ca or by telephone at 705-786-2247.
