ICE -> In Case of Emergency

Saw this cut out from Strait Time & believe it will be rather useful when come to emergency, so I would like to post here & share:

A PATIENT can be transported to the hospital in minutes, but it can take hours to trace the next-of-kin to get consent for procedures, say paramedics.

It's a problem that could be solved by keeping contact numbers on mobile phones under the acronym ICE (In Case of Emergency), said the Singapore Civil Defence Force, which launched a programme yesterday to get people to do just that.

Mobile phone users should save their next-of-kin's number in their phonebooks under headings such as 'ICE-Husband', for example, so paramedics or even bystanders will know who to call.

Speaking at the annual Fire Safety and Civil Emergency Preparedness Seminaryesterday, SCDF Commissioner Peter Lim Sin Pang highlighted the role that technology can play to help paramedics, firefighters and police officers.

He noted: 'By having a uniform approach to storing emergency contacts inside a mobile phone, emergency responders can rapidly identify and contact the victim's next-of-kin in the event of an emergency.'

Welcoming the programme, Dr Tan Seow Hwee, Medical Director of the A&E Department at Parkway Shenton, said ICE would come in handy when trying to trace contacts of patients who may be unable to talk because of injury, for example.

He said: 'There have been cases of children who may be traumatised and unable to speak.

'Checking their phones for ICE would be a good way of contacting their next-of-kin, especially when minors are involved, so that we can get medical permission to carry out medical procedures which may be vital to treatment.'