ICE

Brought to you by the bandwagon, onto which I will happily leap when it suits me, especially if it continues the telephone theme from yesterday. Here's a BND PSA.

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. There's a movement afoot in the U.K. to have people record emergency contact information in their cell phones and PDAs in an entry named ICE. That way, if an accident befalls you, an emergency aid worker who finds your phone might be able to figure out who to call.

Granted, this is not a foolproof system. Not every EMT is going to look into your phone, or have time to. There's no guarantee they'll be able to figure out your device, which may be different from others. A phone or PDA may be lost or destroyed in the accident. But it would do no harm to enter the info, and it might even help.

The article I read, on Snopes.com, suggests creating entries named ICE1, ICE2, etc., if you have more than one emergency contact. You could also create a memo file called Emergency Contact Information if your device has such a function. And continue to take other precautions, such as carrying the contacts (and other important medical information) in printed form along with your identification.

Spread the word. Be cool, ICE your phone this summer. Just don't enter your info while driving, or that "can't happen to me" accident may actually happen to you.

Today around the world: July 12 is Battle of the Boyne Day in Ireland.