I am becoming an ICE queen. Since I first learned about the ICE idea I have been obsessively reprogramming phones wherever I go.
ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency” and more and more emergency services are asking people to utilize this abbreviation. It gives emergency personnel an instant way to identify which numbers they need to call. They don’t have to waste time doing reverse look-ups based on the address on your driver’s license or scrolling through what may be a lengthy address book looking for an obvious clue as to who to call (entries labeled “Mom” and the like).
I don’t know about you, but until I heard about this program none of the phone number labels in my phone meant anything to anyone but me and, maybe, my husband. My husband is filed under his initials with a note indicating whether it is home, work, or cell. My parents are filed the same way. Some of the people I work with are filed under the name of their business. Heck, some of them are on line friends who are filed under their handles because it’s easier for me to find them that way.
This is the method that works for me.
Unfortunately, if I’m in a car wreck the people who rescue me aren’t going to have the benefit of the explanation above. To make life easier for the emergency personnel, should I find myself in need of their services (let’s hope not!), I’ve left my numbers where I like them, but I’ve also duplicated a lot of them in a series of entries called “ICE Spouse Work” “ICE Home” “ICE Mom Cell”, etc.
I’ve made these changes on my cell phone and in the electronic phone book built into our home phones. I am also encouraging all my friend and family to do the same.
Just in case you think this is silly, let me tell you a story about what can happen if you don’t do this.
My stepfather dropped dead of a heart attack one Saturday morning a couple years ago. He worked in a large manufacturing facility and no one working that weekend knew his wife’s name or bothered to check his phone. They didn’t know who to call.
The hospital staff ended up going through the phone book for the area where he lived and calling everyone with the same last name. Eventually they got lucky and found his sister. Who then called his son. Who called me because he didn’t have my mother’s cell phone number.
By the time my mom found out her husband had died he had been dead for over six hours. SIX hours!
Don’t do this to your loved ones and don’t let them do it to you. Take a few minutes today and add some ICE to your phones.