JohnZ
01-19-2008, 04:08 PM
Folks,
Last October, a colleague was involved in that horrific crash on I-75 near Gainesville that you may recall. She was unconscious when help arrived. When she didn't show up for work that morning to supervise the blood bank at the Gainesville medical center, we began investigating where she might be. Although we had her emergency contact info, it had taken us two hours to find out what happened. Two hours!! And it was an emergency service authority that contacted us!! Why so long? I began think about how to improve our emergency notfication policies at the VA. Our emergency call rosters are updated twice a year but they are designed to work in reverse. I came by a recommendation that follows this post. It's so good, that I'm going to direct all of the VA laboratory supervisors to make the recommendation at all staff meetings this month. It can be of benefit to all of us should we be involved in a similar personal emergency.
Here's the recommendation:
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody,
other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?
Hence this ' ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations.
As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.
In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE'.
Please pass the word. 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 simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.
Be sure it's in your kid's cell phones also.....
A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!
Hope this helps y'all. Be Safe!
P.S.
I happy to report that Merlinda is doing well and she plans to be back in the lab next month. Her unfortunate experience taught us all a valuable lesson.
Last October, a colleague was involved in that horrific crash on I-75 near Gainesville that you may recall. She was unconscious when help arrived. When she didn't show up for work that morning to supervise the blood bank at the Gainesville medical center, we began investigating where she might be. Although we had her emergency contact info, it had taken us two hours to find out what happened. Two hours!! And it was an emergency service authority that contacted us!! Why so long? I began think about how to improve our emergency notfication policies at the VA. Our emergency call rosters are updated twice a year but they are designed to work in reverse. I came by a recommendation that follows this post. It's so good, that I'm going to direct all of the VA laboratory supervisors to make the recommendation at all staff meetings this month. It can be of benefit to all of us should we be involved in a similar personal emergency.
Here's the recommendation:
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody,
other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?
Hence this ' ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations.
As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.
In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE'.
Please pass the word. 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 simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.
Be sure it's in your kid's cell phones also.....
A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!
Hope this helps y'all. Be Safe!
P.S.
I happy to report that Merlinda is doing well and she plans to be back in the lab next month. Her unfortunate experience taught us all a valuable lesson.