<p>A few years ago, someone told me they’d seen on Oprah or some daytime talk show that everyone with a cell phone should have at least 3 “ICE” (in case of emergency) contacts listed in their phone. </p>
<p>I immediately picked up my phone and entered my husband, my brother (a doctor), and my business partner.</p>
<p>Does anyone really use these contacts when something bad happens to you? Or do you rely on some bystander to call 911?</p>
<p>I recently reached out to an older woman I commute with (she must be in her late 60s/early 70s) and offered to have her list me as an ICE contact in case anything bad ever happened to her.</p>
<p>Is there another, better system to “be there” for those we love? Has anyone ever used the ICE system and has it worked?</p>
<p>When my dad got into an accident a few years ago, my grandpa was the first to know because he was listed as an “ICE” on my dad’s work cell. Yes, people (cops, doctors, etc) really do use them. </p>
<p>Bystanders will call 911 first- or at least they should.</p>
<p>Not an emergency but my son left his phone at a park and someone looked in his contacts, found obe that said “nana” and called my mom. I was very grateful but it also made me glad they scrolled past “Grandma”. His other grandmother is elderly and can become quite anxious. After that we actually changed her listing to G. </p>
<p>My mother recently took a bad fall when out. I think if she had lost consciousness having ICE moght have gotten me to the ER faster. I imagine the ER calling, not the bystander.</p>
<p>I have never heard of ICE contacts until now, but common sense would make anyone pick up a cell phone (if unlocked) and start dialing thought the listed contacts. I have no ICE contacts, but maybe I will add a few. Hopefully my phone will be at full power if the emergency comes up. :)</p>
<p>I put ICE on my iphone and then became annoyed because when my Mom or H called it came up as ICE. I left my Mom as ICE and put red hearts for favorite next to the names of H and S1/S2. I figure if the emergency folks turn on my phone they will see the hearts. </p>
<p>I cannot convince my kids to do the same so I am hoping a policeman will notice Mom/Dad or Grandma</p>
<p>marybee333 – locked or unlocked is super important – S lost his phone while traveling abroad, and in the meantime, I’d called him, and some nice person in Paris called me back (since it was unlocked). I guess if a phone is locked, all the “ICE-ing” in the world doesn’t amount to a hill of beans…</p>
<p>Very timely thread. This just happened 2 days ago: I just got a call from DH’s ICE number & panicked. The ICE number is a general business number & DH has an extension. One of his colleagues from the work called, but the extension numbers don’t show & the call showed up as ICE. No emergency - everything was fine.</p>
<p>How does it work for kids/people that have a passcode or pattern to get into their phones though? Is there some secret override number they can put in or are they just out of luck?</p>
<p>My Droid has an ICE contact that is separate from the regular contacts.</p>
<p>My Droid is set to require a pattern to unlock. At the bottom of the locked screen are two buttons to make an emergency call or to contact one of my ICE entries. Using either of these options allows one to make a phone call while the phone is still locked.</p>
<p>I have a very simple phone, and wrote “husband A daughter B sisters C D E” instead of including specific numbers. If these people are at work, they would need to be reached through a switchboard.</p>
<p>this is a timely post for me. My H had a fatal bicycling accident on Oct 14 in a county park. I was called by the NYState Park Police who found his phone in his pocket. He did not have me listed as ICE but as Cathymee-Wife. It’s a call, believe me, that nobody wants to get. I have Son and Daughter listed as …Son and …Daughter on my cellphone now.</p>
<p>I don’t have an ICE contact on my cell phone, but I do have one that says HOME. In June, I lost my cell phone while walking on the beach (went back and looked for it but couldn’t find it anywhere). Shortly after Thanksgiving, I got a phone call from someone saying she had found my cell phone in the sand. She took it home and charged it (it was an iphone and she had one too) and found the “Home” entry and called me. (I don’t have a password or anything) I couldn’t believe I got the phone back.</p>
<p>I had ICE on my old phone but now with an iPhone I am not sure how to list things. It links to my Contacts and I don’t want ICE showing up everytime my husband calls. My iphone does have Favorites under the phone setting, so hopefully emergency people will know to look there.</p>
<p>I never thought about locked phones. That message ccreader suggested is clever</p>
<p>I have had my husband as my ICE contact, but I just put aaa before his name so that he is the first name on the list. My son is listed high alphabetically because of his first name. </p>
<p>Sorry again, cathymee. Not the call any of us want.</p>
<p>This thread caused me to realize that even though I have an ICE app on my iPhone with my husband and sons listed as contacts, my phone is locked with a passcode so no one would be able to access it. It never even occurred to me!</p>
<p>So I started googling to see if there was a better solution. There’s an app called Close Call <a href=“http://www.bestappsite.com/close-call-2/[/url]”>http://www.bestappsite.com/close-call-2/</a> that seems like it would do the trick. I haven’t downloaded it yet but plan to do it later tonight. In the meantime, though, I came up with the poor man’s version. I created a document in Word with my ICE contact numbers as well as a message that states “If found, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx” in case I lose my phone. I printed the page, took a photo of it, then used the photo as the wallpaper for my lock screen. Not too pretty, but it works.</p>
<p>I don’t lock my phone. I have nothing to hide and if someone steals it, it’s very easy to reset the code on most phones. That’s a good idea though, pats. </p>
<p>I’ll have to see if my friends who lock their phones have any kind of way for strangers to use it to call people.</p>