ICE-d up

This was on CNN this morning. Unlike the personal safety strategies espoused emails I occasionally get from well-meaning people who are concerned because they heard somewhere that rapists like to target long-haired women because a ponytail gives them something to pull a victim by (as if an arm were not a more effective handle), this seems to make a bit of sense and does not require any irrational paranoia, just good common sense.

Britain and Australian officials are encouraging their citizens to store an emergency contact's information in their cell phones, under the name ICE, for In Case of Emergency. While the campaign has gained traction since the London bombings, it is actually a response to a much more common problem facing first responders, who first respond to a lot of non-terrorist-related incidents. People worry about being caught in a terrorist attack, but one is far more likely to have an automobile accident or medical crisis render one unconscious, unable to communicate, or otherwise incapacitated. In those cases, emergency personnel may have your ID to figure out who you are, but that doesn't get them far in figuring out the person to call to notify of your condition. The ICE entry gives emergency personnel a uniform way to know who to call. Click here for the article by the East Anglian Ambulance service, where the idea originated.

There are, of course, certain drawbacks to this strategy. In an emergency, you may be separated from your cell phone, a stranger may not know how to access your address book on an unfamiliar phone, and of course this is all useless if you keep your phone in any kind of lockdown or password-protected status. That being said, carrying some form of emergency contact info is better than none. The urban legend site www.snopes.com thoroughly debunks the idea that an ICE entry enables cell phone viruses or may cost you a small fortune on your cell phone bill, as has apparently been claimed in an email making the rounds.

Personally, I am putting an ICE entry in both my cell phone and PDA. Actually, I'm putting in a primary and a secondary ICE. It doesn't do the paramedic much good to call your ICE number only to get the cell phone of the unconscious person on the stretcher next to you.