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Winter storm warning: keep ice in your cell phone!
By WDavidStephenson | January 29, 2008
With yet another blizzard walloping the West, what better time for another “21st-century disaster tip you won’t hear from officials.”
No matter where you live or what the temperature, make sure your emergency supplies include always keeping ice in your cell phone.
Oops, I meant ICE, short for In Case of Emergency.
A British EMT came up with the idea (in fact, there’s now a company, based in the UK, providing a variety of emergency notification under the ICE
Here’s what to do.
If you’re unable to communicate in a disaster or after an accident, EMTs won’t have a clue who to contact (unless, BTW, you fill out and every member of the family carries the Ready.gov Family Emergency Plan form. While comprehensive, the form’s also an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, so it’s cumbersome and likely to get forgotten or ripped. I’ve done a much smaller version for my family that can be laminated and carried in your wallet).
ICE solves that problem. Simply:
- create a series of ICE (as in ICE-1, ICE-2, etc. listings in the last name field field of your cell directory.
- under each, put one of the family or friend’s numbers you want to be contacted in an emergency (N.B.: problems with cell phone networks being overwhelmed in an emergency mean it’s smart to make at least one of the listings a friend or relative outside your immediate area, and preferably outside of a major city, increasing the chances the call will get through).
Then, if you can’t communicate, a first responder can call the ICE numbers in order until s/he is able to reach one of your contacts to let them know where you are, how you are, and to ask about any medical or other special issues they should be aware of.
So:
- put some ICE in your cell phone.
- Tell your family and friends to do the same
- very important — let your local first responders know what you’ve done: because ICE is a voluntary, grass-roots program, they may not be aware of it and how it can help them.
Now get back to your snow shoveling.
Technorati tags: homeland security EMT Red Cross FEMAnetworked homeland security natural disasters hurricane blizzard web 2.0 homeland security 2.0 disaster management 2.0 disaster management wireless camera phone cell phone disaster planning disaster planning 2.0 weather
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