New
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From Wikipedia:
Background:In case of emergency (ICE) is a program that enables first responders, such as paramedics, firefighters, and police officers, as well as hospital personnel, to contact the next of kin of the owner of a mobile phone to obtain important medical or support information (the phone must be unlocked and working). The phone entry (or entries) should supplement or complement written (such as wallet, bracelet, or necklace) information or indicators. The programme was conceived in the mid-2000s and promoted by British paramedic Bob Brotchie in May 2005. It encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their mobile phone address book under the name "ICE". Alternatively, a person can list multiple emergency contacts as "ICE1", "ICE2", etc. The popularity of the program has spread across Europe and Australia, and it has started to grow into North America.
For some years now I have had, in addition to normal address book entry for my wife, her mobile number also in contacts as ICE1 Wife Angelika XXXXX. The number is naturally saved in international form (+-sign followed by country code, area code and number) so if an accident happens to me anywhere in the world and paramedics / police / firemen find my phone they can easily find the number they should call in case of emergency.
As I have my phone set to auto lock after a few minutes inactivity, I use a personalized lock screen background where the ICE contact number is embedded and visible. Angelika knows the lock code and when someone calls telling it's an emergency, she can tell how to unlock my phone and find the file with my short medical history, allergies and conditions. As my wife can only German but I travel regularly outside German language area, I have two other ICE contacts named ICE2 English and ICE3 Finnish with respective family members' mobile numbers.
Angie uses the same system, me being ICE1 contact, I know how to unlock her phone and access medical information.
Some weeks ago I was quite badly beaten, mugged and robbed. I did not have my mobile phone with me when it happened so an ICE contact or other information on my phone would not have helped me in this case. Anyway, I have thought this a lot lately and talked about ICE with EMT staff, family and friends here in Germany and in Finland, surprisingly noticing how well the EMT people know the system at least here in Europe, and on the other hand how little people are using this simple system that could one day save your life.
What about you? Answer the poll, let's see how well we geeks know the ICE!
Kari