Here’s a example situation which I hope none of you ever encounter:
You’re in a car wreck, and alive, but knocked out cold. When first responders arrive on the scene, they will check your person and your glove box for emergency contacts so they know whom to notify. If there’s no information found, the next thing checked is usually your cell phone.
When going through the contact list, the first responder hopes for two things (other than you staying alive). First, that you actually have your driver’s license on your person which states your first and last name, and second, that your contacts in your phone are also listed by first and last name. From that, a first responder can contact same-last-lame-as-you people to notify of the emergency.
However, some people don’t do that. Instead they just list their phone contacts by first name only.
Fortunately there is an easy way to let a first responder know which are your emergency contacts in your cell phone when he or she goes through it.
For anyone in your phone contact list that you want known as an emergency contact, list it first with ICE. For example, if your wife’s name is Jennifer, you list her in your contact list as “ICE Jennifer”.
ICE is an acronym for In Case of Emergency. First responders of all types are almost universally familiar with this and know what it is when they see it.
Using ICE in front of emergency contact names in your phone is an easy thing to do, and you should do it.
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One additional one I’m aware of: for those in a wheelchair (like me), put the ICE information and a med list under the cushion you sit on or taped to the bottom of your seat. It will most likely always be there, and for diabetics or those with an extensive med list (like me, on both counts) it could be invaluable…
Another way you could do this is to ad a suffix label to the persons name. i.e. “Jane doe – WIFE”. The ICE method is a lot more organized since it will list all of them together in a row as long as the label ICE is first but you could use the method I outlined too. My phone is an older feature phone that allows me to mark 4 contacts in my phone as ICE contacts. It changes the color of the contacts text from black to red to help them stand out.