Have’nt Qtel-/Voda Started This Program Yet?
In case of emergency (ICE) is a programme that enables first responders, such as paramedics, firefighters, and police officers, to identify victims and contact their next of kin to obtain important medical information. The programme was conceived in the mid-2000s and promoted by British paramedic Bob Brotchie in May 2005.[1] It encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their mobile phone address book under the name "ICE". Alternately, a person can list multiple emergency contacts as "ICE1", "ICE2", etc. The popularity of the program has spread across Europe and Australia, and has started to grow into North America.[2]
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 Anglia Ambulance Service in the UK. The idea has taken off since the July 7, 2005 London bomb attacks.[3]
When interviewed on July 12, 2005 on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, 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."
Brotchie also urged mobile phone manufacturers to support the campaign by adding an ICE heading to phone number lists of all new mobile phones.
With this additional information and medical information, first responders can access this information from the victim's phone in the event of an emergency. In the event of a trauma, it is critical to have this information within the golden hour which can increase the chances of survival.
In continental Europe, the In Case of Emergency concept has been criticised for some reasons[4]:
Medical service personnel on site normally does not have the time to contact relatives. Information stored in a phone is thus useless for medical care prior to hospital
Contacting relatives to a seriously injured person is a sensitive task, which is not carried out via phone in first place
Recommended instead is that the person carries a paper with contact information and also relevant medical information in the wallet.
With the technology available today with smart-phones now has the capability to carry all of the information in an intuitive, easy to access application.
that must be why a governmnet or companies like qtel or vodafone has to be pro active
Have an ICE number saved in my cell phone since last 2 years. I know about it. The problem is I am not sure that the person I am with when in need may be ignorant about it.
we have the ICE initiative, and when registering we get a welcome pack with: sticker for the car, card for the car, card for your wallet/purse.
And I use it at all time. Even some of my fellow country men/women were taken into this initiative by me.
Yet a recommendation could be to ask those in the ICE initiative to get a plastic laminated card in their wallet/purse with some information like: allergies, Blood type, diseases, special medicines being taken (if any), and /or any detail that could be helpful to the authorities to help In Case of Emergency (ICE)
And yes it works.
Regards!!