ICE could save your life...
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:51 am
ICE could save your life
In Case of Emergency initiative turns cell phones into lifelines
(Local remote copy of text follows. Link to original story: Click On Me (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8744626/))
By Dawn Fratangelo
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET July 28, 2005
NEW YORK - At Montefiore Medical Center, New York Citys busiest emergency room, information is vital, and sometimes hard to come by like when a woman in cardiac arrest is brought in alone and unconscious. We were resuscitating this woman with no information, says Dr. Robert Meyer, and only two hours later did someone show up.
News that shed had chest pains for weeks came too late, but she was carrying a potential lifeline: a cell phone.
That sort of situation is just what Robert Stimpson, the acting police chief in Madison, Conn., is thinking. Now hes launching a campaign thats catching on: asking cell phone users to create a specific entry called ICE, or In Case of Emergency.
It couldnt be easier. Enter the number of your emergency contact into your cell phones address book. Label it as ICE and store it. Paramedics or doctors can then access that number if youre in an accident.
A program like ICE, says Stimpson, would make our job much easier, save a lot of time, help the emergency provider, and ultimately, help the person in need.
Most of the 193 million cell phone users in the United States probably already have an in case of emergency number. It just may be under something like mom. Programming it again under ICE only takes moments.
There are some concerns, especially that the emergency contact be up to date about medical history.
The idea caught on after the bombings in Great Britain, where a paramedic conceived it. Word spread, and a grass-roots movement was under way from the Internet to hospitals worldwide.
Its a no-brainer, says Meyer, Its a wonderful idea. Its cost-free.
It's three simple letters that could help save lives.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
In Case of Emergency initiative turns cell phones into lifelines
(Local remote copy of text follows. Link to original story: Click On Me (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8744626/))
By Dawn Fratangelo
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET July 28, 2005
NEW YORK - At Montefiore Medical Center, New York Citys busiest emergency room, information is vital, and sometimes hard to come by like when a woman in cardiac arrest is brought in alone and unconscious. We were resuscitating this woman with no information, says Dr. Robert Meyer, and only two hours later did someone show up.
News that shed had chest pains for weeks came too late, but she was carrying a potential lifeline: a cell phone.
That sort of situation is just what Robert Stimpson, the acting police chief in Madison, Conn., is thinking. Now hes launching a campaign thats catching on: asking cell phone users to create a specific entry called ICE, or In Case of Emergency.
It couldnt be easier. Enter the number of your emergency contact into your cell phones address book. Label it as ICE and store it. Paramedics or doctors can then access that number if youre in an accident.
A program like ICE, says Stimpson, would make our job much easier, save a lot of time, help the emergency provider, and ultimately, help the person in need.
Most of the 193 million cell phone users in the United States probably already have an in case of emergency number. It just may be under something like mom. Programming it again under ICE only takes moments.
There are some concerns, especially that the emergency contact be up to date about medical history.
The idea caught on after the bombings in Great Britain, where a paramedic conceived it. Word spread, and a grass-roots movement was under way from the Internet to hospitals worldwide.
Its a no-brainer, says Meyer, Its a wonderful idea. Its cost-free.
It's three simple letters that could help save lives.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
