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The "ICE" Cell Phone Program
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"ICE" stands for "In Case of Emergency"
Emergency officials are starting a campaign to encourage people to store emergency contact phone numbers in their cell phones to help emergency personnel identify accident or disaster victims. The premise of the program is very simple. Mobile phone users input a contact number of a relative or friend into their phone under the name ICE. Emergency personnel can then find and call the number to obtain vital personal information, such as name, age and medical conditions.
How to use ICE:
- Enter the name of a close friend of family member into your mobile phone book.
- Instead of inputting the number under their name, use ICE. For more than one contact, input numbers under names like ICE-Wife, ICE-Mother.
- Inform the contact person, providing them with details such as your name, age and any necessary medical information such as allergies or conditions.
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Follow these hints to get the best out of ICE:
- Make sure the person whose name and number you are giving has agreed to be your ICE partner
- Subscribers are encouraged to make more than one ICE entry in their address book in the event that one or more entries cannot be reached.
- Make sure your ICE partner has a list of people they should contact on your behalf - including your place of work
- Make sure your ICE person's number is one that's easy to contact, for example a home number could be useless in an emergency if the person works full time
- Make sure your ICE partner knows about any medical conditions that could affect your emergency treatment - for example allergies or current medication
- Make sure if you are under 18, your ICE partner is a parent or guardian authorized to make a decision on your behalf - for example if you need a life or death operation
- Should your preferred contact be deaf, then prefix the number with ICETEXT
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Often, people are in possession of their cell phones even when not carrying personal identification as might be the case when involved in athletic activities such as bicycling, running, walking etc.
An additional benefit to police would be to provide police officers the ability to return found cell phones to their owners when lost. Police agencies routinely come into the possession of lost cell phones that are difficult to return to their owners.
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