LifeTips is a new Sight column for short tips that help make life easier.

28th January, 2008

CALLING 'ICE': It's a simple idea aimed at helping to make life easier for emergency services personnel. Called ICE (standing for 'In Case of Emergency'), it involves people like you and me entering our emergency contacts in our mobile phone address book or contacts list under the name 'ICE' with the idea of assisting emergency personnel in identifying us and contacting our next-of-kin should we be involved in an emergency. UK ambulance paramedic Bob Brotchie is credited with coming up with the idea which is apparently fast gaining a following across Europe and North America. In Australia, an email has been circulating which endorses the practice and purports to come from the New South Wales Ambulance Service. In a statement on its website, however, the service has denied the email comes from its offices and says it has not launched a campaign supporting ICE. But it does add that the ICE concept "has merit" and, alongside information contained in people's diaries, wallets and drivers’ licences, could be used as another source of information to assist with identification. However the service also notes that in situations where more than one person is involved or mobile phones have been borrowed, it could be difficult to match the phone with the right person, a factor which may lead to "unnecessary distress".

- DAVID ADAMS

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