We have been reviewing the new German ICE Foundation effort with some satisfaction - our translations could use a little help.....which made us fully appreciate how difficult that might be during emergencies!  E.123 works!

So for those of you that speak or understand German, this might be a treat for you.  

English instructions are on the site as well....Welcome Germany!! 

We are going to reiterate the need for redundancy in your preparedness planning and implementation.  The reasons may be obvious to most of us but not necessarily to those who might want to score a big "media" or "PR" hit with the masses and not promote the "big picture".

So, what do you do to protect yourself? 

First, make sure you need to remember that it is YOUR responsibility to make sure your safety best interests are taken care of ...because no one else is going to do it for you (ok maybe your close relatives have more skin in the game than any public official or nursing home owner ever will...) but then that should not be a surprise ....should it?

Next, you need to do more than place contact phone numbers in your cell phone as your only preparedness effort.  
Do not rely on any one method to work - it won't - it hasn't and don't be misled by anyone into thinking it will! 

Try these ideas:

Program your phone with emergency contact numbers - use the E.123 method to Keep It Simple.

Use an ICE Sticker on the Phone.

Use the ICE Image as your phone main screen display and/or front display.

Make sure you place ICE Contacts on both your SIM CARD and your PHONE MEMORY

If you have a camera phone - take your picture and call the file "PHONE OWNER"

Program your phone text message to indicate ICE or EMERGENCY INFO is on-board the phone...this is on the front display or seen upon powering up the phone.

Write out a list of your emergency contacts on paper in large print and take a picture - store this in your phone (if you can) under the label "ICE CONTACTS" 

Do you have audio file capability on your phone?  Leave a message(short) on emergency wishes and contact numbers - state the date you made the recording in your own voice.

Make sure your contacts are up to speed about you and provide them with pertinent information. Make sure they have it in writing so there is no question - especially Health Proxy Info!

Complete several ICE Cards not just one....there are plenty of places to carry them - wallet/purse/car/bicycle bag/kayak/backpack/ski jacket/helmet/running gear....getting the picture yet?  

Place an ICE Sticker on your wallet to indicate there is ICE Information inside.

If you are "bugging out" and are using a Flash Drive (USB)to store critical information then you need to use a password protected unit that can store the most sensitive info not needed in a medical emergency.  We cover this idea in depth on the ICE Blogs.  

Using a Flash Drive?..... then store your PHR and Advance Directives in easily readable text format like MS Word or Wordpad.  You might also include a program viewer file  that might be needed to read the file you made - once again DO NOT ASSUME someone can read your information....that can be a fatal mistake!

Place an ICE Sticker on the Flash Drive, so it will be recognized as important.

Name all emergency files plainly - not in geek speak!!  How About "Emergency Contact Info" or "Emergency Medical Info File - Your Name"  not  "bld_er_infoxyz"

Driving a Car - place ICE Cards in the glove box in pouches that don't move (stick on) and near the Registration and Insurance Cards where police and rescuers will look. 

Kids Backpacks - place an ICE Card inside or in their wallets and program their phones too!  Make sure you laminate them as kids are not all that neat.  

Make sure when you create an ICE Card you at least use an INK Pen or Fischer Space/Military Gel pen so the contact info does not fade or wipe out.  

Refrigerators and ICE Vials are useful as well....large stickers on the door and on the fridge can be a good repository for emergency info - even in a fire as they are likely to survive a fire more so than a bulletin board on the wall. 

ICE Versa Card Stickers are a great tool to use for this.  You could even place an ICE Card on the refrigerator door using an inexpensive pouch supplied free by ICE4SAFETY when you send a SASE for your free stickers. 

Laptops?  Upload the ICE Image as a hyper-link on your personal laptop and include the contact info here - unlocked on your desktop and in "My Documents" file.

I-Pod or similar device?  Yes an audio file by you denoting your emergency wishes or contacts can be recorded here too.  Don't expect them to be used immediately but only if other info is not located on/near you during an emergency.

I-Phone or graphics oriented phones can use ICE Image on the display to denote emergency information files. 

Finally - If you are using these methods or ICE in your community - make sure you notify the local emergency service providers of that fact....ICE4SAFETY has provided a form online that you can send to your local Police/Fire/EMS to let them know in no uncertain terms! 

You won't get this much information or detail from the online sticker vendors or safety gimmick sites - all they will tell you is how many stickers they (reportedly) sold or how great their products are...who cares?  Ask yourself...have you ever seen these things around anywhere?  No.

Once again, relying on one single source or method to convey emergency information can be a fatal flaw in your safety plan. 

Don't expect public safety people to be omniscient - they're not. These items here are not hard to do and could ultimately improve your chances of surviving an emergency.  Combined, they would be hard to ignore....

                                The choice - and the RESPONSIBILITY is yours.

You can download a PDF of this blog article on the DIY Tools Page!
 

NEVER FORGET 9/11/01 AND THE DAY ISLAMOFASCIST TERRORISTS INVADED OUR COUNTRY AND KILLED OUR CITIZENS AND CITIZENS OF OTHER COUNTRIES.

Hurricane Gustov Situation Page - Keep Track of the Storm News on One Screen 
Vue Too is providing this multiview site to make keeping track of new/views and info.
Click on Picture to Link Up.