ICE " in case of emergency " apps worth it ?

[Trekfan]

A co-worker told me about ICE apps that have all your med info listed for EMS / ER if you are found passed out . She said EMS always looks at your Phone for this app. I have a pice of paper in my wallet with my info and one in my service dogs harness but as she was saying if don't have your wallet with you "and I never do when I walk " noone will know to look in the dogs harness .

I want to make shore that some knows to look and care for my service dog if I can't . So I got one of these for my iPhone yesterday the one I got in called smart-ice and it will call SMS for you I have been filling in the info and I just wanted to know is it worth all the work do EMS / look for this on you phone . And where is the best place to keep an ice sheet ?

[CCL RN, RN]

Guess you could set your wallpaper with all that info...

[Trekfan]

THERE WORTHLESS IF NO ONE WILL LOOK AT THEM :uhoh3:Well my worst nightmare came true last week i had to 911 at the time i was olney able to give my name and address as i was not able to breathe from my bp droping out . in my right hand i grabed my phone but was not able to activate the ice app and my left hand my service dog . when ems got there they where not shore wether to take him or not in the end they did ,but back to the app. both the ems and er never looked at my phone or in my wallit for my info . i even at one point was able to tell them to get the info from my wallit but again they never did .

it realey gets me that no one ever looked for this info ,what if i had had low blood sugar insted no one would have known to check it ? as it was almost 3 hours into my stay at the er had to ask for my sugar to be taken and the teck walks in and says " OH your diabetic ?":uhoh3:

[F.E.R.N., BSN, RN]

While I can't really speak for this individual ER, if it's any comfort, the tech is not usually the person who knows all that is going on with the patient. If you had ever been to that hospital before, they would probably have already pulled up relevant info on you from their computer system. I often know more about my patients than they do themselves if I have an H&P or even an face sheet from their last visit, be it for an admission or a sprained ankle. Even just looking at what outpatient labs they've had done through us gives me clues into what their medical history might be.

If they drew any blood, they may have already gotten a blood sugar long before the tech was asked to get another one with a point-of-care monitor. I'm not saying that I *know* these things were done, just that it is often the case that a patient is not aware of all that is going into their care outside of the room.

Either way, it's always good for people with significant medical conditions to have information in more than one place...medic alert bracelets, wallets, phones, records...anything available. You never can be sure where you'll be, under what circumstances when an emergency occurs.

[abundantjoy07, RN]

It's no good for me because my phone has an automatic lock on it.

[SpEdtacular, MSN, RN, EMT-P]

I've looked in wallets but not usually phones (sometimes i'll check for a mom, dad, home #). Never phone apps. If you're at home some people keep their medical history and personal information on their refrigerators (I lived in a town that gave a "file of life" to the seniors, best idea ever) so sometimes we'll look there. If you take medications that's not a bad place to keep medical information because we look at those. Someone mentioned Medical alert jewelry.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I have ICE on my phone, my wallet carries all my relevant info.

But 'my primary source' are my dog-tags: one tag with my name, blood type, and allergies; the other tag with "Contact" and following information.

I don't take my tags off. Ever :)

cheers,

EDIT: No serious (or chronic) medical conditions - yet. But I'll add 'em to my tags too...

[Elginite]

Sherman's ICE app works even when the phone is locked since it puts the emergency contact info on the wallpaper. That way the info is on the same screen as the lock screen. You do not need to lock the screen to get at the emergency contact info. This app is made available for other hospitals to customize with their own brand info since it's a valuable, possibly life-saving tool. See http://iceapp.dcinteractivegroup.com/

[RNDude1]

Ditch the special app. Just create an ICE entry in your contacts with the needed information. Most EMS folks can work the popular phone models.

[Elginite]

has anyone seen this app in use? how is it displayed on the phone ? does it come up on the look screen ?

Yes, I have it on my iPhone and it works when locked -- well, at least it gives the emergency info name and phone number when locked so paramedics or anyone else know who to call. It allows you to put the information on the wallpaper (lock screen) so it comes on when you start up the phone, before you put in your pass code.

[Elginite]

If your phone is locked (like an iPhone), EMS cannot get to your ICE contacts. That's why the hospital offered this app. It's free and it works, so why not? It allows you to be covered in case of emergency, and you can still lock your phone.

[Elginite]

The app puts your ice contact on the LOCK screen so that it can be seen without having to unlock the phone. While you cannot get into the app without first unlocking the phone, you can at least get the name and phone number of the contact person without unlocking the phone. That person can give good emergency info and maybe even the lock code.