In case of emergency
Encyclopedia
In case of emergency is a programme that enables first responders, such as paramedic
s, firefighter
s, police officer
s, and (more likely) Hospital personnel, to contact the phone owner's next of kin
to obtain important medical/support information (the phone must be unlocked & working). The phone entry(s) should supplement or compliment written (wallet/bracelet/necklace) information or indicators. The programme 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 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
.
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 7 July 2005 London bombings
.
When interviewed on the BBC Radio 4
Today programme
, 12 July 2005, Brotchie said:
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:
Recommended instead is that the person carries a paper with contact information and also relevant medical information in the wallet.
There are applications available for some smartphone
models that offer the same or more functionality as an ICE phone book entry.
Alternatively, some handsets provide access to a list of ICE contacts directly from the 'locked' screen. Starting with version 2.3 ("Gingerbread"), the Android operating system lets users specify emergency contacts which can be called without knowing the phone password.
In iPhone 4S models the service called SIRI can access the emergency contacts in ICE by asking SIRI verbally ...... "contacts ICE" , even when the iPhone 4S is locked.
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s, firefighter
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
s, police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s, and (more likely) Hospital personnel, to contact the phone owner's next of kin
Next of kin
Next of kin is a term with many interpretations depending on the jurisdiction being referred to. In some jurisdictions, such as the United States, it is used to describe a person's closest living blood relative or relatives...
to obtain important medical/support information (the phone must be unlocked & working). The phone entry(s) should supplement or compliment written (wallet/bracelet/necklace) information or indicators. The programme was conceived in the mid-2000s and promoted by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
paramedic Bob Brotchie in May 2005. It encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
address book
Address book
An address book or a name and address book is a book or a database used for storing entries called contacts. Each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields...
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
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and has started to grow into North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Overview
Following research carried out by VodafoneVodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The idea has taken off since the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
.
When interviewed on the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
, 12 July 2005, 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
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
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
Golden hour (medicine)
In emergency medicine, the golden hour refers to a time period lasting from a few minutes to several hours following traumatic injury being sustained by a casualty, during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death...
which can increase the chances of survival.
In continental Europe, the In Case of Emergency concept has been criticised for some reasons:
- 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.
There are applications available for some smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
models that offer the same or more functionality as an ICE phone book entry.
Locked phones
For security purposes many mobile phone owners now lock their mobiles requiring a passcode to be entered in order to access the device. This hinders the ability of first responders to access the ICE phone list entry. In response to this problem many device manufacturers have provided a mechanism to specify some text to be displayed while the mobile is in the locked state. The owner of the phone can specify their "In Case of Emergency" contact and also a "Lost and Found" contact. For example, BlackBerry mobiles permit the "Owner" information to be set in the Settings → Options → Owner menu item.Alternatively, some handsets provide access to a list of ICE contacts directly from the 'locked' screen. Starting with version 2.3 ("Gingerbread"), the Android operating system lets users specify emergency contacts which can be called without knowing the phone password.
In iPhone 4S models the service called SIRI can access the emergency contacts in ICE by asking SIRI verbally ...... "contacts ICE" , even when the iPhone 4S is locked.