cellphone ICE

someone forwarded a hint about "cellphone ICE" this morning, and being a natural skeptic, I just had to check it out first. Indeed, I found an item on snopes.com about it: "In Case of Emergency" which has lots of details.

The Executive Summary of "cellphone ICE" is simple:

add|edit one|more of your cellphone Address Book entries so that it begins with the letters ICE (In Case of Emergency). Then, when you're found dead/dying, a paramedic can search your cellphone's address book and will know who to call. I personally haven't carried one of those "Emergency Contact Number" forms in my wallet for eons, so this isn't a bad idea.

The Cellphone ICE idea is not foolproof, as the snopes.com article points out: if your cellphone's separated from you, how will an EMT know which phone belongs to you? Also, what if you have a security code enabled (so others can't use it without your permission)?

Perhaps we should all print a custom label for our phones? "Property of Gene Bob. In Case of Emergency, call Beta the Wonder Dog at 555-1212"

Related: one of the A9 hits sent me to a video of an interview on CBS TV's "The Early Show" where Bob Brotchie - the idea's British originator - was interviewed by Julie Chen. Since I'm not a regular viewer, I don't know if she's normally that way, but several of her interview questions sounded like a total airhead. At least she didn't ask "If you could be a tree, what color would you be?" I felt sorry for Bob Brotchie, and would like to apologize (on behalf of all Americans) for subjecting him to that. We're not all mindless bimbos, Bob .. just certain TV Anchors.