The Scottish Ambulance Service is spreading information – and asking everyone to do the same – on the ICE Campaign, In Case of Emergency.

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 us would have our mobile phone but wouldn’t know who to call.

Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored there – but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?

Hence this ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) Campaign concept, which is quickly catching on. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. 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 the brainwave of 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’.

Please email the page address of this story to your family and friends. The simplest way to avoid spam filters in doing this is to send the email to yourself and put the emails of everyone else in the BCC (blind copy) line – not in the CC line. This really could save your life and put a loved one’s mind at rest.

• For a single In Case of Emergency Contact on your mobile, enter ICE
• For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.

The service has been endorsed by Argyll’s MSP, Jim Mather, who is encouraging everyone to use it. He says: ‘This is a great initiative and a relatively simple idea for the services to promote. Most people now carry mobile phones and this is an easy way of helping emergency staff contact your family or friend. Time is always at a premium during emergencies, and though many people will take the attitude that ‘it will not happen to me’, it is sensible to plan ahead and doing this will mean emergency services can contact loved ones in seconds rather than in minutes.

A simple entry in the mobile phone’s directory for “ ICE”  would direct emergency services to the nominated contact.

I would urge everyone to heed the advice of the Police, Fire and Ambulance services and do this simple thing which could make a significant improvement in dealing with emergencies’.