Blog For Arizona

Michael: Put Your Loved Ones on ICE

An new idea for cell phone users, popularized in England due to the 7/7 bombings, and now spreading here, helps rescuers quickly locate the next of kin of disaster victims. The idea is really very simple - just put ICE (In Case of Emergency) before the names of those you want notified in an emergency in your cell phone's address book. For example: ICE --- Mommy Dearest.

It is a decentralized, non-invasive, flexible, and widely available fix for an increasingly vexatious and time-consuming problem facing first responders. It's one of those solutions that when you hear it, you just think, "Well, that's perfectly obvious." Boy, if anyone told me a few years ago I'd be enthusiastically passing along a tip for how to deal with being the victim of a terrorist incident, I'd think they were insane. What a different place the 21st century is turning out to be.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 7/18/2005 12:14:00 AM