The Hindu Business Line : ICE in your mobile

Following the London blasts, mobile phone users are being urged to enter a number in their mobile phone's memory under the name ICE, which stands for In Case of Emergency.

The number would be of a person who is to be contacted in case there is an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster or a terrorist attack. Emergency services would be able to find the number quickly and use it to contact a relative or friend.

While the Paramedic Association of the United Kingdom is spearheading the ICE campaign, in India, petroleum refining and marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has decided to take up the cause.

Most BPCL petrol pumps now carry a hoarding that urges citizens to store the ICE number in their phones. "We started out with our employees a few weeks ago. Later, it was decided that the campaign should be taken forward to our patrons and the general public at large. That was when we decided to put up the ICE message at our filling stations," says a BPCL spokesperson.

On average, over 4,000 people visit a BPCL petrol pump every day. The company has advertising space at each of its pumps that is used to promote its own products or social messages, he says.

Certain non-government organisations and Web sites have also taken it upon themselves to spread awareness about the ICE concept. Forwarded e-mails urging people to save ICE in their phones have also been doing the rounds.

When contacted, municipal authorities and the Gujarat State Disaster Management Agency (GSDMA) officials said it was a good idea and should be propagated.

"We can certainly look at ways to promote the concept. I think it is a very simple but useful bit of information that can be stored in a standard form in every individual's mobile phone," says the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's Chairman, Anil Mukim.

According to a senior police officer, as part of the standard drill, police officers locate a victim's mobile phone and try to find the names of the people who need to be contacted.

"I have seen situations where the victims are so traumatised that they cannot even talk. ICE would offer a readily available number and we will not need to fumble around to make out who should be contacted. It would make our job that much easier," he says.ICE is the brainchild of Bob Brotchie, an East Anglian Ambulance service paramedic. One of the problems that surfaced in the aftermath of the London blasts was that of identifying victims.

Having an ICE contact in the mobile phone, Brotchie thought, could speed up the process if such a tragedy occurred again.

The contact could also provide medical information about an injured person, including any drug allergies or past medical history. If nothing, it could be used to comfort traumatised victims by simply making them talk to their loved ones.

A Web site, www.icecontact.com, has been created to propagate the idea. The site says that eight out of 10 people do not carry details about their next of kin, but an equal number of people do carry mobile phones that stay close to them at all times.

Mobile users have also received hoax e-mails claiming that storing an ICE number would be charged for by the operator and would drain the credits of pre-paid users.

It must be clearly understood that ICE has to be stored by the users themselves and is like any other number saved in their mobile phone directory. There is no way a mobile operator can charge the subscriber for storing the ICE number.

It is also important to inform the ICE contact that their number has been saved in your mobile phone so that they are not taken by surprise if the emergency call actually comes. So, do save ICE in your phone for a rainy day.

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh

eworld@thehindu.co.in

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