A warm welcome to the home of ICE – In Case of Emergency
Bob Brotchie - ICE founder
Imagine sitting at home waiting for a loved one to arrive and not knowing where they are.
Imagine ringing the police – they can do nothing until an adult has been missing for at least 48 hours.
Imagine ringing the hospitals – they don’t have anyone with your loved one’s name but they may have unidentified patients.
Now imagine what it’s like to be a paramedic, desperately trying to find the next of kin of a critically injured patient.
All of this heartache can be avoided by a simple action.
Add the letters I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) to the person or number on your mobile phone that you’d like to be contacted – in case of emergency e.g ICE-Mum, ICE-Wife
Having notified your loved ones, the medical team can then treat you appropriately, so expediting treatment and reducing risk of further harm. Repatriation occurs much faster than for many of those brought to the emergency room ‘unconscious’, who may otherwise lay ‘ALONE’ and as a ‘P/U’ – Patient Unknown .
As a paramedic since the 90’s I had been using the mobile phones of ‘victims’ for a while to try to notify loved ones asap, knowing from personal and professional experience how distressing it is to see someone without family at their bedside… and to be that person, as I had been back in 1979 following a car accident in which I was critically injured, having been ejected at high speed from a somersaulting car!
I asked myself in 2004, how can I create a uniform way for the public to accept, and emergency responders to adopt a method of accessing the relevant info – fast. I thought of an acronym, so that ‘I’ would know where to go, in the phones contact list straightaway. My earlier experiences had demonstrated that simply searching the contact list was haphazard…and time consuming! I didn’t know who to call and often got no answer anyway. Worst was when I had to give up, so as to continue with immediate care. I thought of ICE – In Case of Emergency and felt that if phone owners prefixed the ‘agreed’ ICE contact with ICE, then responders could go instantly to ‘I’ for ICE!!… Simple!
So an example is Ice – mum, or Ice – Bob, etc. You can have more than one but please have that conversation with the ‘agreed’ ICE Contact.
ICE even has it’s very own ‘Wiki‘!!
I started to put out feelers for opinions to this idea, with phone companies, medics and public. The response was overwhelmingly positive! Potential concerns at that time were -
- What if the mobile phone has been ‘locked by passcode’? Clearly, with the phones of the day, the majority not being ‘smartphones’, then it was a ‘matter of choice’!
Has that changed? YES! With the proliferation of ‘smartphones’, there are now ‘apps’ which allow the phone to be ‘locked’, yet still allow access to the information YOU wish to be known – In Case of Emergency. I have provided info below to THE app which I endorse and support, if you wish to use something more than my original idea which is still the number one choice – globally!
- What if the phone is damaged, separated from its owner, ,etc
Clearly, in that scenario, the phone will become useless for the purposes of ICE. The solution is to have more than one method. There are others methods which I support, some of which are listed below.
- Some emergency responders feel that they will be “better served dealing with the casualty” - Quite right!! - At no point in time have I ever reduced my care to the patient whilst seeking ICE info. These days, there is always someone such as a colleague or police officer who can support the notification/identification process.
So, that’s the story of ICE – Please consider ICE ‘original’, for you and those you care about as well as the supporting options below. If you have any stories of ICE in use, or how it may have helped, please let me know. Suggestions are always welcome also. Thank you for your interest.
The ICE App – Smart-ICE from ems-options
Tutis-ICE – A Really Smart Card with USB
If you feel you have an ICE related product that belongs here, let me know. You can email me here bob.brotchie@gmail.com or find me on Linkedin or Twitter @angliacounsel
Bob, thanks so much for sharing this. Like all brilliant ideas it is head-slappingly simple but so effective. It would be great to hear from some people who have used it and managed to avoid the horrible situation you describe above. I wouldn’t want anyone I know to be a P/U.
Thanks again for helping to make a horrible situation easier to bear.
Thank you Ann, and for helping to spread the word.
Warm regards
Bob
Hi Bob,
This site is just great. I have spent 15 years working in emergency departments across the UK, i know how many times being able to contact loved ones would have made a difference both to medical treatment and psychological wellbeing of both our patient and their family. Using ICE is an absolute no brainer, there is no downside only wins for all involved.
If you are unlucky enough to have an accident or get taken ill having someone who can tell the emergency services and A&E team about your health genuinely could save your life.
Bless you Lynda! Means a great deal to have such a stirring endorsement.
Would love to have even more from public and the emergency teams.
Warm regards
Bob
Thanks for the mention Bob.
Keep up the momentum getting ICE into the minds of everyone!
The simple ideas are often the most effective. ICE is a great concept
Thanks for the great feedback Kevin. Please remember to share with your connections and loved ones
Thanks Bob for including ICE Tags as part of the “Best of” ICE. There are lots of options for people now – no excuse why everybody shouldn’t have some type of ICE on them – along with ICE in their phone (of course).
Well stated Gwen. No excuses at all. Do this for yourself AND your loved ones.
I love these bright ideas. Useful to everyone. ICE ice baby.
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