The wearing of an emergency bracelet or medical id band after WLS is something much discussed on forums and there are those very much for them and those who think they provide minimal help in the case of an emergency. Bracelets and other jewellery or id aids aside, there is however a very real need for emergency services to know some very valuable facts about you (and your surgery/allergies/next of kin etc) should you find
yourself in an accident or in extreme difficulty.
I am posting this message on a Sunday in the hope that many of you will have a little more time than during the working week to do something about this. One of the easiest ways is to provide the emergency team with what is called ICE information. This information can mean the emergency services can contact your elected person (or persons) for help during an emergency. Don’t under-estimate the power of this. For example my ICE contacts can tell any emergency operative that I have had a RNY Gastric Bypass and that I therefore cannot have Blind NG Tubing, NSAIDS and am sugar intolerant and also have an allergy to the adhesive on plasters. My contacts also know my own GP’s name and telephone number.
It’s very easy to set up following the step by step guideline given below … please do it today…. none of us every thinks it really matters too much until it’s an EMERGENCY!
Message from the Ambulance Service
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending to 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 mobile 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 recognised 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 dialling the number you have stored as ‘ICE’.
http://www.wikihow.com/Add-ICE-to-Your-Cell-Phone