[Rhodes22-list] In Case of Emergency

Sun Jul 24 17:27:13 EDT 2005

Michael,

Welcome to my world.  I have to show my ID before the
ramp personnel will give me the necessary paperwork to
fly the jet, I've been fingerprinted by the FBI twice
in the last three years, and a few months ago I was
questioned by security in Newark for having a pilot
uniform in my suitcase.  "Why do you have a pilot's
uniform?"  "Because I'm a pilot."  "Why aren't you
wearing your uniform?"  "Because its easier to buy
beer in civilian clothes."  "Why do you have an
airline ID?"  "Because people accuse me of
impersonating a pilot without it."  My three year old
could do as good a job as the TSA.  SHE PROFILES!  The
guns and bag checks on the subway are all "eye-wash"
for the public.  As far as leaving the city, you'd
still have to dodge rednecks and deer.

Here is an article on the ICE campaign from the
Idiots, ur, I mean Washington Post.  Brad

washingtonpost.com
'ICE' Cell Phone Plan Would Help Rescuers
Idea to Designate Next of Kin in Electronic Address
Book Is Gaining Popularity

By Sam Coates
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 18, 2005; A06

To its owner, the cell phone is an indispensable
lifeline at times of crisis, reuniting loved ones
separated by unforeseen events at the touch of a
button. But for members of the emergency services
making life-and-death decisions, the cell poses a
conundrum: Which of the numbers stored in its
electronic address book should they call to reach a
casualty's next of kin?

Now a simple initiative, conceived by a paramedic in
Britain, has gained momentum on both sides of the
Atlantic to try to solve this problem. Cell users are
being urged to put the acronym ICE -- "in case of
emergency" -- before the names of the people they want
to designate as next of kin in their cell address
book, creating entries such as "ICE -- Dad" or "ICE --
Alison."

At least two police forces in the United States are
considering the idea, according to the initiative's
British-based promoters, who say there has been a
flurry of interest since the recent bombings in
London.

Paramedics, police and firefighters often waste
valuable time trying to figure out which name in a
cell phone to call when disaster strikes, according to
current and retired members of the emergency services,
who said they must look through wallets for clues, or
scroll through cell address books and guess. Many
people identify their spouse by name in their cell,
making them indistinguishable from other entries.

"Sometimes dialing the number for 'Mum' or 'Dad' might
not be appropriate, particularly if they are elderly,
suffer from ill health or Alzheimer's," said Matthew
Ware, a spokesman for the East Anglian Ambulance
service, which is promoting the ICE initiative. "This
would give paramedics a way of getting hold of the
appropriate person in a few seconds."

The idea was conceived by Bob Brotchie, a clinical
team leader for the ambulance service, after years of
trying to reach relatives of people he was treating.
He began the ICE initiative in April, but it gained
momentum only after the bombings in London, when
information about the plan spread by e-mail. Ware said
the East Anglian Ambulance service received 500
inquiries in six days, from South Africa, Canada,
Israel, Germany, and several organizations in the
United States, including a security company from Utah
working on the London bombings, police departments in
Florida and Texas, and a company in Ohio.

Lt. Robert Stimpson, acting police chief of Madison,
Conn., was one of those who contacted Ware. "I think
it's a great idea. . . . It's so simple I can't
believe that other people haven't thought of it
before. Not only does it help emergency workers
identify a responsible party when they come upon an
unconscious person, it also helps identify the owners
of lost cell phones," he said in a telephone
interview.

Several next-of-kin contact systems were set up after
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, such as the nonprofit
National Next of Kin Registry established in January
2004 that shares information provided to state
agencies in the event of an emergency. The registry
was set up by Mark Cerney, a disabled Marine who noted
that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that in 2003, 900,000 emergency room patients
could not provide contact information because they
were incapacitated.

Ware said that although there are such databases, some
charge as much as $200 a year to register. The ICE
initiative is available free to the 192 million cell
users in the United States.

Kathleen Montgomery, deputy press secretary for the
Department of Homeland Security, said she did not have
any comment on the matter because it was not the
department's idea. Instead, she recommended that
citizens look at the department's emergency
preparedness site, Ready.Gov. The site recommends that
next-of-kin details and other emergency information be
kept on a "family contingency plan" sheet that can be
downloaded from the site.

The site offers wallet-size cards that can be
distributed to family members with space for details
about next of kin and additional information such as
neighborhood meeting places, out-of-town contacts and
other important telephone numbers.

Erin McGee, spokeswoman for the Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association, which
represents the wireless industry, said her members
welcome the ICE initiative. "I think it has the
potential to catch on. From what I've read, it seems
to be already spreading beyond Britain."

Clark L. Staten, a senior analyst for the Emergency
Response and Research Institute, a Chicago-based
consultancy and think tank for the emergency services
and military, said he thinks it sounds like a good
idea, but could have a couple of pitfalls.

"There may be some privacy concerns: firstly, that the
next of kin or the address or phone number could be
accessed by someone other than a member of the
emergency service," he said. "Secondarily, the
information could become out of date, and the
designated next-of-kin number is disconnected or you
change your next of kin altogether. The worst -- you
don't want them to call the ex."

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

--- michael meltzer <michaelmeltzer at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I am not so sure about this, if my wallet (that is
> alway in my pants pocket) was not useable, I am
> pretty
> sure the only phone call that is going to be needed
> is
> the life insurance commpany, said by someone who
> take
> a train and subway twice daily, Did is mention the
> dogs, state tropper, national gruard, swat teams....
> that are riding with me latly, The side arms ar not
> bad but the mp5 and m16 are unwheeldy and the gas
> mask
> pouches bump you in the head, I have to addmit it
> enought to have me thinking about a more local job.
> -mjm
> 
> --- brad haslett <flybrad at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Here is a great idea making its way around the
> web. 
> > It started with the London bombings and is
> > spreading.
> > 
> > 
> > The idea is that you store the word " I C E " in
> > your
> > mobile phone Address book, and against it enter
> the
> > number of the person you would want to be
> contacted
> > "In Case of Emergency". 
> >  
> > It was thought up by an ambulance man/paramedic
> who
> > found that when they went to the scenes of
> accidents
> > there were always mobile phones but they didn't
> know
> > 
> > which numbers to call and he thought that it would
> > be
> > a good idea if there was a nationally recognized
> > name
> > to file "next of kin" under. Following the
> disaster 
> > in London, East Anglian Ambulance Service have
> > launched a national "In case of Emergency (ICE)"
> > campaign with the support of Falkland' s war hero
> > Simon Weston. 
> >  
> > In an emergency situation, ambulance and hospital
> > staff will then be able to quickly find out who
> your
> > next of kin are and be able to contact them. It 's
> > so 
> > simple that everyone can do it. Please do. E mail
> > this
> > to everybody in your address book, it won' t take
> > too
> > many 'forwards' before everybody will know about
> > this.
> > It really could save your life, or put a loved
> one's
> > mind at rest. 
> >  
> > For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2 , ICE3
> > etc. 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 		
> >
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