ICE: Such a simple way to save lives

Put your nearest and dearest on ICE.
It's painless, costs nothing and is as simple as a few presses of the
buttons on your cellphone.
But in a time of crisis it could be your lifeline, says a Marton man
who wants New Zealanders to adopt the ICE number system.
ICE stands for "in case of emergency".
And if New Zealand followed Australia, the UK and the US, we
could all have ICE in our mobile phones,  which emergency services
would know to look for at accidents or incidents where the person
could not speak for themselves.
   Central region St John tutor and volunteer  ambulance driver,
Darren Smith already has his ICE number in his mobile phone.
It has three ICE numbers for his wife - her name beside her mobile,
work and home numbers. There is no mistaking who to contact and
where.
Mr Smith said there were already a lot of Kiwis who knew about
ICE and had it in their mobiles. 
The ICE acronym was coined by Bob Brotchie, a paramedic in the
UK, in 2005.
"Bob and others found that when they attended an emergency,
people who were unconcious or shocked had no next of kin details."
But for ICE to work, the person must know they were the
nominated contact.
The contact must also be updated if their number was changed.
Mr Smith said that, as an ambulance driver, it was crucial they had
the correct information in that "golden hour" of getting medical help
for the patient.
"When we're at a crash, we don't have the time to look through a
mobile phone for someone to contact.
"With ICE we can advise the hospital of the numbers. It is that
information gathering that makes the difference and we can get on
with administering assistance."
Allergies or medical information would also be at the fingertips of
the emergency services. 
The Vodafone Lifesavers Award championed ICE in the UK and
now it was commonplace for everyone to include their emergency
contact in their mobiles, Mr Smith said.
 There were downsides, he said,  such as if the mobile was broken or
locked.
These days people travelling overseas took their mobiles with
them.
Central region St John training delivery manager Christina
Brenton said she understood ICE was promoted three years ago but
it went nowhere.
"There are certainly benefits for people and it  is a sensible thing if
all the emergency services knew there was an emergency person to
get in contact with."