Imagine that you are seriously injured in an accident. The doctors and paramedics need to contact your family, but they could not find any form of identification in your belongings. They searched through your phone list in your mobile phone but were unable to find out who to contact. This problem could be avoided if you’ve ICE-d your phone.
ICE, acronym for “In Case of Emergency” is a concept gained momentum overseas and was particularly well received after the July 2005 London bombings, which highlighted the difficulties of emergency responders to locate the relatives of unidentified victims. This September, SCDF launches an ICE Outreach Programme to encourage mobile phone users to store their emergency contacts with the prefix ICE (e.g. ICE-Husband). We believe that having a uniform approach to storing emergency contacts inside a mobile phone will enable emergency responders to rapidly identify and contact the victim’s next-of-kin in the event of an emergency.
Roving ICE Booths
ICE booths will visit the heartlands during Emergency Preparedness Days, selected shopping malls and also at the city centre as a month long drive in September 2009. Members of public who have programmed ICE contacts into their mobile phones will also be eligible to participate in a lucky draw contest.
The Roving “ICE” Booths will be at the following locations
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ICE Stickers
Leveraging on the high mobile phone penetration rate in Singapore, ICE Stickers will be given out during the road. Mobile phone users will be encouraged to paste these ICE stickers to the back of their mobile phones. These ICE Stickers will serve as indicators to emergency responders that the patient has a stored emergency contact with the prefix ICE for them to call in the event of an emergency.
To ICE your phone, simply add a new contact, input the name as ICE-Husband/Wife/Mom/Dad (whoever your ICE contact may be) and input the person’s contact number. Think carefully about who your ICE contact should be, the person should be readily available and is able to make critical decisions on your behalf. And be sure to update your ICE contact should the person change his mobile number.
So go ahead and add your ICE contact in your mobile phone. It might one day make the difference between life and death.
Filed under: Emergency Preparedness, Events Tagged: | civil defence, contact, emergency, heartlands, ICE, phone, SCDF
Nice level of information here. There is so much data around about this subject that sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees but you have pitched this at just the right level so that the lay person can understand – thank you!