Let me cross the line a bit, hovering a moment in commentary territory, to share a family story.
He was a doctor, my great uncle King – way back at the turn of the century. But in truth, he was not much different than young men of today’s era. He liked to run every morning before work, keeping in shape for the ladies and blowing off the steam that accumulates in a high-pressure life.
One cold wintery morning, he failed to show up for work. That was not like him – a man routinely teased for always being on time, even if it meant traveling early then standing outside in the cold so as to arrive at precisely the right moment.
Being before the advent of the regular use of telephones, someone went to his New York City apartment looking for him, but King wasn’t there. They checked his favorite haunts. Not finding him there either, they knocked on his sister’s door.
My grandma, still a young lady then, hadn’t seen her brother – didn’t know where he was. She went to Central Park, walking King’s favorite runs, calling his name, panic rising with the passage of time.
It took three days for her to finally find him at the morgue. He’d had a heart attack while running. King didn’t have any identification with him. When he was brought to the hospital, he was so blue, no one recognized the man they worked with everyday. His heart was restarted, but King never regained consciousness. Another attack dealt the final blow a few hours later.
Before he passed, Uncle King lived in the same apartment building my grandmother did all of the years I knew her. King’s door was immediately adjacent to the elevator. Every time grandma walked by, she would silently tap two fingers on the railing.
I often asked why. She explained, only once, that it was because she had missed her chance to say goodbye. Her one-sentence explanation left me with a lifetime awareness of how long loss can linger.
Not wanting to be responsible for making anyone else endure the three days of torture she had, Grandma had her name tattooed on her foot.
I learned about it when I was about 8 years old. I got Grandma and her old lady friends to play a game of Two Truths and a Lie with me. I didn’t believe she had a tattoo until she showed me.
OK, so maybe that is a little overboard, but how does one protect themselves and their family in case of emergency? I set out to find out.
Captain David Sadecki, Santa Barbara County Fire Department Public Information Officer, says his teams are usually the first responders on emergencies and that their focus is on stabilizing and transporting the injured. They leave the identifying and notifying next of kin to others.
It is always a good idea, especially in the golden hour immediately after an injury, says Sadecki, to have as much information as possible. But the conditions paramedics work under don’t always lend themselves to secure it. He’d be all for a system that puts the information quickly at hand.
Bob Brotchie, a paramedic in Britain, in May 2005 came up with a program called ICE. It calls for people to add a contact in their cell phone named ICE, which includes the name and telephone number of the person to be reached in the event of an emergency. The idea gained momentum on both sides of the Atlantic. And while many people today have an ICE contact or two in their cell phone, local authorities have a better idea.
Drew Sugars, Public Information Officer for Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, says that the acronym ICE in the United States brings immediately to mind the subject of immigration for law enforcement officers, rather than emergency contacts. But that doesn’t mean, he says, you shouldn’t add an ICE to your phone’s contact list – just in case.
Noting how important it is to exercise sensitivity in situations where you have an unconscious or deceased victim, emergency personnel look instead for contacts that state a relationship rather than a name – things like mom or wife. “That can make it pretty easy to figure out who the next of kin is,” says Sugars.
By way of example, he notes, that often a person will have a number of contacts with their own last name saved to their phones. Mr. Smith may have 15 other Smiths there. Absent a notation of the relationship, say Sugars, it is hard for emergency personnel to know what the victim’s connection is to people at the end of the phone line.
Program an emergency contact both as ICE and by relationship, rather than simply by name. “Anything that people do to help us contact people in an emergency is a good idea,” says Sugars.
But all of this assumes the phone is nearby, still working and unlocked. While most newer phones have a way to lock all numbers except emergency contacts and all phone calls except 911, given the enormous variety of phones out there and how fast models change, Sugars says, it is impossible for his department know how to use them all.
Still, someone at the scene might know. It just makes sense to program important information where medics can retrieve it. Check your phone maker’s website for instructions or call your provider for more information. The life saved by a 911 phone call – made from your otherwise locked cell phone – may be your own. It’s just a thought.
“I should point out that people may not want to solely rely on their cell phone, as it can be damaged, destroyed or separated from the victim at the time of the incident. Keeping a typed list in your wallet and your glove compartment is also helpful,” says Sugars.
He advocates putting a sticky note on the back of your driver’s license with contact information, especially if you have a health condition first responders need to know about. Of course, that means you have to carry your license with you even, if like Uncle King, you’re out running.
My handwriting being what it is, and given the shape of the pocket for the license in my wallet, for me the sticky-note idea would only last about a day. Sugars didn’t know off-hand if it would violate the law to – on the back side – use a permanent pen to add a contact name to a driver’s license.
Somehow, personally, I can’t see the likelihood of anyone objecting (especially if law enforcement isn’t clear it violates anything).
I’d like to think, however, that I’m much more likely to have a wallet or car stolen than to be unconscious or dead and in need of having someone contacted on my behalf. But I’m an optimist, so I worry more about exposing my loved ones to the chance of their numbers ending up in the wrong hands.
The state of Kansas has a Yellow Dot program where those with health issues can put a bright yellow dot on the windshield of their car and a yellow envelope in their glove box with pertinent information. Other states have other procedures, but there isn’t a national program I can locate –notwithstanding the websites, shoe tags and other available paraphernalia dedicated to the cause.
Any of the options may sound good, as long as what you choose to do it is the go-to default of first responders in your particular case. Maybe doing all of it is a better idea.
Both Sugars and Sadecki say usually the lion’s share of the work identifying patients and notifying next of kin falls to emergency room personnel.
When the kids were little, I spent a few dollars and had “mom” and my phone number engraved on the back of mobile phones and iPods, not so much in case of emergency, but more to ward off theft. Thank God I was never in need of finding out if it that simple step works in an emergency. Perhaps it would.
The bottom line is that as this New Year unfolds – with my own personal family farther and further afield – I’ve come to the conclusion that both I and they need to find a way to make sure we are contacted immediately in case of emergency.
So, I guess I have some list-typing and contact-programming to do. But I have to admit, Grandma’s tattoo idea is sounding better all the time.
Vial of Life
If your emergency happens at home, Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital has a way for residents to plan ahead to ensure the information medics need is right at hand.Mary Puryear, clinical manager of the Emergency Room, says they provide free of charge a Vial of Life to locals requesting them.
The vial is designed to contain all the pertinent information patients should bring with them to the hospital, affixes to the refrigerator (with a magnet) and paramedics know to look for it. More than one resident in the same household can share a vial by simply copying the blank forms and filling them out.
Each vial is large enough to hold four forms. Puryear suggests a small photo of the patient be clipped to each form for easy identification when a vial holds more than one form.
Copies can be made to be kept in your pocket, purse or car’s glove box. Puryear also suggests you take a few moments and bring the information to the hospital before an emergency arises. The hospital will confidentially record the information in their files as an added protection.
Puryear strongly recommends those with significant medical conditions or drug allergies wear a medical alert tag around their necks, ankles or wrists. When filling out your Vial of Life, remember to write legibly, in pencil (to facilitate updates) and place it so it can be seen, she says.
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