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EMTs: Read
the
ICE protocol! (.pdf)
All IU students are encouraged to visit our
safety section for
information on campus and personal safety.
What is
ICE?
ICE is a public safety initiative encouraging anyone who owns a cell
phone to list individuals in their phones
to contact in case they are
involved in an emergency situation.
The contacts are simply entered
into the cell phone under the name "ICE,"
followed by the individual's
name. Having two to four emergency
contacts listed in this manner
is recommended.
Emergency medical patients are
often unconscious or disoriented,
and therefore unable to provide important
information to emergency
personnel. Therefore, these
personnel, including police officers,
firefighters, EMTs, and emergency
department staff, are all trained to
search for indentifying or medically
significant articles on patients,
such as identification and medical cards,
medication lists, and medical key chains, necklaces and bracelets.
This training now includes searching a
patient's cell phone for ICE contacts as well.
Advantages
An ICE contact can provide
lifesaving medical information about the patient, such as medical
conditions
that the patient has, his or her medical
history, his or her allergies and prescription medications, and
other
information. Contacts can also
clarify the patient's organ donation and religious preferences.
Furthermore, ICE also has
significant social and emotional value, as it allows family members
or friends to
be notified of the patient's involvement in
an emergency as quickly as possible, allowing them to arrive at the
hospital in a much shorter time. In
fatal emergencies, having an ICE contact listed in a his or her cell
phone
may even allow a patient to see and talk to
that contact when they otherwise would not be able to.
Finally, contacting family
members early in an emergency situation may allow them to more
quickly organize
insurance information or give consent for
elective treatment, especially in the case of children, the elderly,
and
the disabled.
Success
With 80% of the population
owning cell phones (and nearly 100% of university students), ICE is
the most
ideal way to facilitate contact of a
patient's family members or friends in the shortest time possible.
Emergency personnel are specifically
trained to search for the ICE contact in patients' cell phones.
ICE
allows emergency contacts to be notified in
a matter of minutes, a vast improvement compared to several
hours using traditional methods.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Isn't having "Mom" and "Dad" as contacts in
my cell phone enough?
The mother and father are not
the best sources of medical information for all patients. They
may not live
with the patient, may not be up to date on
the patient's health, and may even live in another city, state, or
nation. Additionally, the patient may
not want his or her mother or father to be an emergency contact for
personal reasons. Furthermore,
emergency personnel are trained to search for ICE contacts before
searching for entries such as "Mom" and
"Dad."
Will searching for ICE
information prevent emergency personnel from rendering appropriate
treatment
in a timely manner?
Emergency personnel are
trained in assessing situations they handle and prioritizing tasks.
All lifesaving
and stabilizing care will be rendered
before any effort is made to contact family members or friends.
Emergency personnel will only search for
ICE information if it will not negatively affect patient care.
Will using the ICE initiative be an
invasion of my privacy?
Emergency personnel are
specifically trained on patients' privacy and confidentiality, and
know what
measures are acceptable in each type of
situation they handle. Having an ICE contact in your cell
phone will
not facilitate an invasion of privacy
compared to not having one.
Using ICE
Follow this simple procedure
to take advantage of the ICE initiative:
-
Program two to four contacts into you cell
phone, listing them as "ICE 1 - Name," "ICE 2 - Name,"
and so forth.
-
For example, "ICE 1 - Sue," "ICE 2 - John."
ICE Contacts
Click to Enlarge
Additional Resources
The following further steps
can be taken to assist emergency personnel in obtaining medical and
contact
information in an emergency situation:
-
Order an
ICE sticker
(new window) to place on your cell phone in order to alert
emergency personnel to your use of the ICE initiative.
-
Carry a medical identification card in your
wallet or purse, as well as in the glove compartment of your
vehicle.
Bloomington Hospital (new window) offers free cards at its
information and emergency desks, or you can print a free
emergency medical form (new window) and
emergency medical identification cards (new window) from
MedIDs (new
window).
-
Register for an
ICE
package (new window), which includes a medical
identification card, a medical alert sticker, two medical
key chains, and two medical vehicle decals. These articles
display the phone number for
ICE
Contact (new window) service and your PIN (personal
identification number), allowing emergency personnel to
obtain your emergency contact information, medical conditions,
allergies, prescription medications, and organ donation and
religious preferences from the service.
Available ICE Contact Packages
-
Print and complete Bloomington Hospital's
personal medical record (.pdf), which contains
information on your medical conditions, allergies, prescription
medications, vaccinations, personal doctors, pharmacies, and
emergency contact information.
-
If you have children, print and complete
Bloomington Hospital's
medical consent form (.pdf) to ensure that they
receive all available emergency medical treatment in your
absence. This form is also available at the hospital's
information and emergency desks.
(Opens New Window)
Links
The following links provide
additional information and resources about ICE and medical emergency
preparedness. All links open in a new
window.
All IU students are encouraged to visit our
safety section for
information on campus and personal safety.
BHAS Visit
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