ICE: In Case of Emergency

Here's a good tip if you haven't gotten around to making your wallet card yet.

Store your emergency contact numbers on your cell phone beginning with ICE (in case of emergency).  So, ICE followed by the telephone number of Mom or Dad or your spouse. 

If your unconscious or unable to respond to emergency personnel, paramedics need to get in touch with the right people and  ICE numbers on your cell phone are a good way.

Barbara Mikkelson at Snopes  adds a lot more

Now, Bob Brotchie, a paramedic who works as a clinical team leader for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust has launched a campaign (sponsored by Vodafone's annual Life Savers Awards) to get people to store "In Case of Emergency" (ICE) information in items that have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world: cell phones.

According to Vodafone:
[R]esearch carried out by Vodafone that shows more than 75 per cent of people carry no details of who they would like telephoned following a serious accident.

Bob, 41, who has been a paramedic for 13 years, said: "I was reflecting on some of the calls I’ve attended at the roadside where I had to look through the mobile phone contacts struggling for information on a shocked or injured person.

"It's difficult to know who to call. Someone might have "mum" in their phone book but that doesn't mean they'd want them contacted in an emergency.

"Almost everyone carries a mobile phone now, and with ICE we'd know immediately who to contact and what number to ring. The person may even know of their medical history."

If you take the time - 15 min - to do your wallet card, the vital information a paramedic needs to know about your blood type, allergies, significant medical conditions, and medications would be all there.