In case of emergency

In Case of Emergency, or ICE, is a program that enables first responders, such as paramedics, firefighters, police officers, to identify victims and contact their next of kin to obtain important medical information. The program 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 cell phone address book under the name ICE; alternatively, if a person has multiple emergency contacts, they can be listed similarly to the following: ICE1-Mom, ICE2-Dad, ICE3, etc. The popularity of the program has spread across Europe, and has started to grow into North America.

Further promotion
To further promote the use of ICE, a new simple, highly recognizable symbol has been developed as a free public service to help emergency personnel quickly locate where the emergency contact information is on an unresponsive patient. The ICE symbol was developed by Mark Balduzzi, an insurance industry safety professional, former law enforcement supervisor, and EMT in Syracuse, New York USA in July 2005 to give the public free access to do-it-yourself tools. Organizations and individuals can easily learn about and promote the use of ICE in their community through use of template documents, presentations, posters, cards and stickers. For example, if the ICE symbol is located on a cellular phone in the form of a sticker, emergency responders will know immediately that the patient has programed ICE into their cell phones. This symbol has been developed for free use and distribution. The use of ICE has evolved from the original idea of programming cell phones with contact info to the development of other tools to help locate and store this info and promote its the use of ICE. Your chances of surviving a medical emergency can improve if those providing care know more about your physical condition(s). ICE has also evolved into a learning tool to promote being prepared for other emergency situations as well. A website and blog that provides the free DIY ICE tools allows users the ability to create a variety of customizable ICE related materials at no charge. A number of US and European health providers, trauma centers, FIRE/EMS, government emergency management departments, community volunteer action groups, insurance companies and individuals have recognized and now integrated the free ICE symbol and tools into their personal and public safety awareness efforts. A strictly all-volunteer effort to raise awareness about being prepared can be located at www.ice4safety.com and www.ice4safety.blogspot.com.

For those individuals wanting a ready made visual alert to add to their cell phones, icesticker.com has developed an iconic, bright red sticker that is designed for use on a mobile device. Icesticker.com launched in the summer of 2005 and has become the standard "on phone" symbol to indicate you have entered ICE contacts into your phone.

In developed countries some 80% or more of people carry a mobile phone, and the police or paramedics often use them to identify victims at road traffic accidents or other incidents. The idea of ICE is that everyone should put an emergency contact name and number into their phone under the headword "ICE". This would give the emergency services personnel a standard place to look.

Cell phone companies' response
Most newer phones offered by American cellphone company Verizon Wireless come with a special ICE contact list. This is made possible mostly in part because Verizon puts a User Interface on all of their phones made with Adobe Flash that incorporates this standard. One example is the LG VX-8600. Following research carried out by Vodafone that showed that fewer than 25% of people carry any details of who they would like telephoned following a serious accident, a campaign encouraging people to do this was started in May 2005 by Bob Brotchie of the East England Ambulance Service in the UK. The idea has taken off since the bomb attacks in London on July 7 2005.

Interviewed on July 12 2005 on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Mr. Brotchie said:


 * I was reflecting on some difficult calls I've attended, where people were unable to speak to me through injury or illness and we were unable to find out who they were. I discovered that many people, obviously, carry mobile phones and we were using them to discover who they were. It occurred to me that if we had a uniform approach to searching inside a mobile phone for an emergency contact then that would make it easier for everyone.

Mr. Brotchie also urged mobile phone manufacturers to support the campaign by adding an ICE heading to phone number lists of all new mobile phones.

Hoax Virus
Around the same time, as early as July 12, hoax emails began circulating suggesting that the campaign was actually "phase one of a phone based virus that is laying a path for propagating very quickly", or that customers would be charged for the use of this "feature". This claim has been subsequently called out as an urban legend. Matt Ware, of the East Anglian Ambulance Service, has been asking people to disregard emails making this claim.

"I have been inundated with emails and phone calls from people worried that, having put ICE into their mobiles, they are now going to be charged for the privilege," he added. "We would like to assure people that that’s not the case."

There are some who consider there to be weaknesses to the idea, not least that best practice recommends that mobile phone handsets should be PIN protected; also that phones are vulnerable to loss, damage or theft.

ICE First
Given the pervasiveness of mobile phones and the average user's lack of concern related the above weaknesses, an inexpensive software application for mobile phones called "ICE First" that allows users to store emergency medical information on the phone has been downloaded and recommended by thousands of first responders in the US.

The cards issued by the ICE Contact service carry a membership number and free phone number. Emergency personnel ring the number and quote the membership number and are given any medical information the member has stored; call center staff contact the next of kin leaving the medical staff free to treat the injured.

In the ICE First mobile phone application, emergency medical information about the mobile phone user is stored right on the mobile phone, allowing emergency personnel to have immediate access to a user's medical and contact information.