[Closed] ICE ID thing

I have a RoadID (I'm dibetic, so really need to have something on me giving the blue light brigade something to work with!)

Very good, doesn't look 'uncool' and quick delivery. Highly recommended

It is something I keep meaning to do. Did get a SPOT this year, though. Makes me feel just a tiny little bit happier riding alone out of mobile signal.

The SPOT thingy is quite handy, actually. It will happily record your position onto a Google map 'live' every quarter of an hour or so for a good few days continuous on a single pair of AA batteries (lithium ones only) which means I don't need to try and record my route in any other way.

EDIT - mmm - think I might just get a dog tag style thing etched and Alaldite it onto my SPOT...

Rachel

I always carry my teeth with me so I can be identified by my dental records.
If you have Dogtag travel insurance you get a nifty dogtag with your details on.

I have my blood group and the ICD code of all ailments tattooed on my lower lip, with a bigger version on my arse in case of poor visibility

I don't really get the ICE thing. Assuming you have ID and can be identified, what can a relative do apart from bring you flowers in your hospital bed or switch off the machine.

When in Canada our holiday company got us to keep a piece of paper with all our details in our Camelbak. This seems like a good solution as even with a wallet full of credit cards (assuming a locked phone so no ICE available) it's going to take some time for the rescue services to find your who-to-contact details.

I don't really get the ICE thing. Assuming you have ID and can be identified, what can a relative do apart from bring you flowers in your hospital bed or switch off the machine.

In the case of Mrs Feet they can tell the doctor it's 'his own fault for being so stupid as to ride in the woods, in sub zero temperatures in the dark' 😆

TBH as an A&E doc we rarely find these things useful.

Most of the time you are either so unwell/broken that we fix what is in front of us and worry about your past medical history at some later stage, or you are awake enough to tell us anything important.

If you are diabetic.... I will check the BM of every trauma patient that comes through the door so don't worry.

If you need blood.... I can't give it to you without sending a crossmatch sample to the lab so I don't care what your blood group is, nor will me knowing alter the fact that I still have to send a sample to the lab.

If I need to find your next of kin.... I have the police for that. They are quite good at it. As long as we know your name, we'll find someone. So, have something on you with your name (and date of birth if possible) with you and you'll be fine.

I have done the ICE thing in my phone as I don't carry any other ID when I'm out on the bike, but do take the phone.

I suffered a TIA last year so my wife was persistent that I did this then she could be contacted should anything happen to me.

But since then I've changed phones from one with a simple keylock guard to a smart phone then the person finding me and my phone has to get past the lock screen to access the number...

I work in A+E and of the people that come in unable to give a name, 99% will have a name, address, next of kin and contact numbers all filled in from *somewhere* by the time they arrive through the doors. It's very difficult to make yourself Mr UNKNOWN UNKNOWN (DOB 01/01/1900). So I doubt it's worth actually spending money on an ID thing - it's not like it'll make a difference to whether you live or die, anyway.

Unless of course you have a serious medical condition in which case those medic-alert bracelets/necklaces are a good idea. Although I've only tried once or twice to crack them open and they've been rusted shut...

Well that's it for me. Just next of kin stuff. I usually carry a bank card, some cash, a business card and my phone. The police can find me easily enough I'm sure but it just speeds it up a bit.

I tend to view the info as mostly corpse identification in case of something seriously wrong. However a mate was in ICU last year and it was half a day before they were able to identify him and call his family.

I have a RoadID, as never have ID on me when running/riding. It has name/DOB on it, and only has the other stuff, next of kin/blood type, as I had 5 lines to fill.

[img] [/img]

Oh and it was a present from my Mum and she was worried about me 😀

I use one of these;
[url= http://www.theidbandco.com/Sports-Helmet-ID-Tags-17 ]ID Band Co - Bike Helmet tag[/url]

ICE on your phone assumes the person who finds you unconscious knows how to unlock your phone.

Flouro tag on your lid is a tad more obvious 🙂

Above I linked to the Bike specific one, but I actually bought this one as it's a few quid cheaper and not that much different (most importantly, it's in stock!);
[url= http://www.theidbandco.com/Commuter-Hard-Hat-Helmet-Safety-ID-Tags-195 ]ID Tag Co - Work Helmet tag[/url]

Years ago out in Richmond Park, I was supposed to be meeting up with a mate. Rode round, no sign of him but there was an ambulance and air ambulance and a bunch of cyclists stood around - a couple of their number had come off and were being attended to. It was only on my second lap that I realized one of them might be my mate - went back and sure enough, almost unconscious and doped up on morphine was my friend.

The police were quite relieved when I said I knew him and started asking if I could get in touch with his next of kin. Erm, no, I only know his mobile no. Got his phone out, but it was PIN protected and the guy was so dazed he couldn't remember his PIN to tell me.

He got carted off to hospital for an operation, meanwhile his wife was going absolutely frantic when he didn't return home at the allotted time and she couldn't get through to him (his mobile had no reception inside the hospital or it got turned off). It apparently took her until late evening to trace where he'd been taken cos the medics had nothing to go on other than the guy's name - this was circulated to the police but it then relied solely on his wife tracking him down. I didn't know his home address or phone number to contact her.

Back then it was comparatively rare for phones to be PIN protected, they normally just had a *# combined press to lock the keypad.

With modern smartphones, they have all sorts - mine you have to draw a pattern on the screen, some have face or fingerprint recognition so carrying some ID or a dogtag would be very sensible.

So, have something on you with your name (and date of birth if possible) with you and you'll be fine.

...which is on my RoadID. Guess it just makes things easier for the first on scene

Been thinking about these for a while - more so for when I'm out running/on the road bike where I won't be carrying my wallet.

I did spend a bit of time on google looking and there is another company that does the roadID thing........off to see if I can remember them!

A few years ago on a club ride a rider fell of and knocked himself out, he came round but was pretty bashed up but no one had any of his details so a lot of us now have these,[url= http://www.icebands.biz/ ]ICE UK[/url]

I carry my photo driving licence and a card with my gf's phone number on it, plus a bank card and a few quid in a jimmi wallet. Should add a note re penicillin allergy too, that's quite important really.

As has been said by the pro's above, Mrs FD says its pretty much a waste of time as medics spend their time making sure your ok, they are not really that bothered who your contact may be. That can all be sorted later

Can't do any harm though can they? Well unless you freakishly in a final destination style get it snagged on a tree, which then rips your arm off and you spin arround, only to be knocked out by your own arm and fall into a fly tipped chest freezer which is for no apparent reason still pressurised, you knock the hose which ruptures the whole thing cools down and your frozen (semi) alive.

Anyone who doesn't password protect their smartphone is just asking for trouble so the ICE entry in there is a complete waste of time. (unless you don't care about your personal data in which case leave it wide open).

All my bikes have website address stickers on them somewhere, I quite like the idea of the police needing to contact some obscure singlespeeding site in an attempt to try and work out who I am.

"hello, is that the proprietor of one****ingspeed.com? We've found this stiff up on the moors and were hoping you could tell us who it used to be."

samuri - that's brilliant!! Love that idea - maybe we need to register www.somestiffuponthemoors.com and allocate everyone a number that they attach to their helmets and put details on the website??

Or maybe not...

Mrs FD says its pretty much a waste of time as medics spend their time making sure your ok, they are not really that bothered who your contact may be. That can all be sorted later

Wow, the medical professionals are bloody self absorbed aren't they: "they're pointless, we get our info from elsewhere". Good for you.

To me crazy-legs' story shows why they're useful. I usually ride on my own, the one time I did have a bad crash I phoned my parents from the ambulance. Were I knocked out/close to dying/dead it'd be nice to think that someone could inform folk I care about who could perhaps be at hospital so I could say goodbye before I died, as opposed to dying alone, unable to tell people who I am. Not being morbid or owt 🙂

Saying that, if I happened upon an injured rider I'd be as likely to look for 'home' or check the recent text messages for an appropriate person. I'm not convinced ICE is that much more useful. Have one though, doesn't cost owt.

"Wow, the medical professionals are bloody self absorbed aren't they: "they're pointless, we get our info from elsewhere". Good for you."

Which would you prefer, them to sort you out and stop you dying, or faff around with your mobile phone for 30mins while they work out who to contact and contact them, and then when they have made sure that you best bud knows your dying then get round to stopping you dying. 🙄

All I'm saying is that when some one is seriously ill, informing a relative is not the top priority, and as stated above its usually left to the Police to avoid any big **** up.

All I'm saying is that when some one is seriously ill, informing a relative is not the top priority, and as stated above its usually left to the Police to avoid any big **** up.

Agreed, but there seemed to be a lot of assumption (from the medics) that users thought the sole benefit of the ID was to aid their treatment.

Unless I had some hideous medical condition which may make a real difference to paramedics as I was lying unconscious at the side of the road I'd not really see them as being of a huge amount of use to them.

Jimi wallet with photo driving license. Blackberry with ICE number displayed on lock screen and option to make calls without unlocking.

Can't iPhones make calls phone through a locked screen?

Oh, and if I had some serious allergies or really impressively odd anatomy (situs inversus totalis), I'd mention it, but otherwise as already mentioned, not really worth the bother.

I read it differently that medics just think its a waste of time having an ICE as they wont use it to find the next of kin.

On the other hand my Mother wears a medical bracelet so that if she keels over they dont try and zap her heart (pace maker fitted)

I read it differently that medics just think its a waste of time having an ICE as they wont use it to find the next of kin.

OP: "Anyone use these" (the line

Part of me thinks this is reasonable but if nobody ever looks for one, it's no more useful than a business card or a phone.

Well that's it for me. Just next of kin stuff.

Various medical professionals, ignoring the above: "no they're useless, don't bother" - supported by the following:

TBH as an A&E doc we rarely find these things useful.

So I doubt it's worth actually spending money on an ID thing - it's not like it'll make a difference to whether you live or die, anyway.

its pretty much a waste of time as medics spend their time making sure your ok

All of which assume the OP was only interested in them for their potential help in treatment, which the OP specifically said wasn't the point.

So I stand by my self absorbed medics comment, as none of them seemed able to read the thread, and assumed people were trying to help them in their jobs.

Some of these responses do seem a bit odd. Surely any information can be of assistance. Say I'm found, the Police then have a name and contact detail they can start with, surely this just speeds things up and everyone wins?

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the paramedics will sit there scrolling though the phone trying to find an ICE contact with you lying unconscious in the road.

They'll fix you up first but what do the vast majority of people carry around with them - a mobile phone. So it's an obvious place to look for any information that might be useful once you're stable and on your way to hospital.

Does anyone remember that cyclist killed in Derbyshire a few months ago? Got hit head on by a speeding motorcyclist who misjudged a bend, both killed instantly.
It took the police over a week to find out who the cyclist was, he had no info or ID, no phone on him. All they could do was issue a public announcement ("do you know this person?") and wait until a relative reported a missing man matching that description.

Anything that might help - ICE contacts, ID tabs are useful

Which would you prefer, them to sort you out and stop you dying, or faff around with your mobile phone for 30mins while they work out who to contact and contact them, and then when they have made sure that you best bud knows your dying then get round to stopping you dying.

The reality is, though, that there is always a member of staff who would be able to simply have a look at the bright orange "ICE BAND" and call your next of kin. Yes, it's unlikely to be the consultant trauma surgeon, but an ability to find out NOK information IS useful.

My ICE band is in the post, much to my family's disgust! I suppose it emphasises my mortality (little do they know, I'm actually immortal. Well, so far I am...)

DrP

"So I stand by my self absorbed medics comment"

Don't get too self absorbed 🙂

He asked if the emergency services would look at his wrist for contact details. Emergency Services people above have said no they wouldn't they are more interested in saving your life. However they then qualified that the Police do the finding out contact details bit later.

In my wifes experience from what she has said the Police do, they don't do it from ICE numbers (I assume if you have a mobile they just take the SIM card out and ring the supplier), whether they would look at the wrist band, who knows, I doubt they are even aware of what they are, or what it contains.

Is that ok?

Given that we are talking about chubby middle class chaps riding slowly around well recognised trails on one of the most populated countries in the highly developed western world, I fail to see that this is anything other than a first world problem par excellence.

We had a bloke collapsed on the hill near me. He was in intensive care for several days before anyone knew who he was. You could argue that ID wouldn't make a difference if nobody actually missed him, but even so for the sake of carrying something on the bike/runs it seems fairly trivial.

I know about the blood matching thing, but I guess there must be other things worth knowing about, risk of anaphylactic shock maybe? Interested what the medics think.

"I know about the blood matching thing"

Whats that?

Even you say I am blood group 'x' they will not take your word for it and test to see what blood to give you.

We get one or two a year in itu, I've never seen anyone unidentified for longer than 12 hours, and as noted above, unless you have some extremely weird condition, all the info is essentially unusable because we test for and treat the things we find are wrong.
Might help in terms of tracing relatives, but again as noted above, this is a secondary issue to sorting you out.

So there's really nothing medical that you'd like to know about in advance?

Might be rare, but this is the one I was think of http://tinyurl.com/7srervc

Information is always interesting, but no doctor would treat on the basis of info that might or might not be true. As you note, its very rare, and so the above thread sounds more like the chattering classes scaring themselves over olives and wine than a real pressing issue.

I live alone and it can be between 5-7 days before I see a family member so I use a road id with my name and a couple of contact numbers on just so they can inform someone to let them know if i've had an accident or dead and want to use some body parts.

For Stever,
http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2011/11/24/identity-of-chester-man-who-collapsed-in-helsby-is-finally-established-59067-29831030/

Well, once or twice we've had folk in the back of the wagon that we'd rather know a bit more about (albeit very quickly)- you know, folk found unconscious at the side of the road, no id, no phone etc..
Like the docs have said, we check everything we can straight away- but I can think of 3 occasions in the last few years when we had no info at all and the person was unknown in hospital for a coupla days till the police were able to figure it out or they were reported..
I realise that is more of an ID thing but we would always have a quick look for medical alert bracelets and the like as part of our head to toe if someone wasn't able to tell us. It's rare but it does happen.
I guess in the context of mountain biking where we could be out on our own, with no ID etc if we were in trouble it's not a bad idea to have some basic info written down somewhere..

+1 for RoadID

dr_death - Member
TBH as an A&E doc we rarely find these things useful.

i hope there are exceptions - youngest daughter doesn't produce cortisol so in trauma blood sugar would be way off whack but treating for blood sugar alone assuming is diabetic could be fatal

recently attended a first response course and checking for medic alert or similar wasn't covered

Yeah, there's a few conditions I can think of (and probably several others) that wearing a medic-alert necklace is essential. As above, Addison's or anyone requiring maintenance steroids, Diabetes (even if your blood sugar is OK when you come through the door, it could change over the next few hours). Or if you by any chance happen to be allergic to any drugs we might use during resus, that would be worth knowing (some people are allergic to certain types of IV fluid).

I didn't mean to sound flippant before, but having an ID bracelet that says your blood type and that you're allergic to sticking plasters isn't helpful at all, and spending money on such a thing is silly. People assume that if you're knocked out and can't give your name, no one will know who you are. There are lots of other ways of finding out. I don't like products that are marketed to people by scaremongerers - It's [i]really[/i] not that common a problem at all. I do applaud the 'Recycle Me' bit on that RoadID though.

Thanks project - I know Rachel from the Chron, we thought he might have been one of ours at one point. We had a new runner about that time with a similar tattoo. Sad story that took a long time to come out.

I use MedicAlert - very similar to RoadID. Diabetic so handy to let the 'lucky' person that finds me know...fortunately never had to have it used.

I've always assumed they were a bit of a waste of cash to be honest unless you have some rare disease/issue that might cause an immediate problem. In fact I'd venture to say that having one on when you don't have any existing issues is possibly psychologically removing some off the importance from those who DO have issues and wear a band/tag to say so. If every day the medics get people in with little bands all over them saying "I'm allergic to X, my blood type is Y" and it's no use to them, the next time someone lands with a real issue they may ignore the tag.

I always carry a phone and my wallet, in my wallet I've a driving license, 3 bank cards, a blood donor card and an organ donor card. If found by medical professionals I want them to concentrate wholly on fixing me, THEN finding someone to tell when they know a little more about it. The last thing my parents/GF needs is a call saying coffeeking has had an accident, we're not sure about his status yet but we'd like you to know anyway.

FWIW smart phones, at least androidy ones, can specify their lock screen wallpaper. Just mod the one you like with your ICE number visible.

I have always wondered why rally drivers have their blood group painted on their car door though, if medics always have to test first.

He asked if the emergency services would look at his wrist for contact details. Emergency Services people above have said no they wouldn't they are more interested in saving your life. However they then qualified that the Police do the finding out contact details bit later.

**Smacks head**

Last time I checked the police are an emergency service. Medical people have said they're too busy saving your life, but it's been widely acknowledged that it may well help in identifying you, ergo to say it's pointless because A&E doctors will ignore it is seriously short sighted IMO.

Just me?

I don't think ID'ing anyone would ever take people away from the medical team - it's a job for an extra nurse / receptionist to do, so it's not like we'd ever call your wife in leiu of performing CPR...

Re: Blood types - in some circumstances knowing your blood group is worthwhile, but only if that result is validated and 100% reliable. For example, army grunts have their blood group on their dog tags so they can get type-specific blood sooner. Clearly that system works otherwise they wouldn't do it. However, if someone rolls into A+E with a tag bought over the internet by some company with very little vested interest in their health, well, I wouldn't trust it, and that person would get O -ve blood if they needed it, prior to more accurately-matched blooded becoming available (typically around 15 minutes for type-specific blood).

So who's the rider found in a bad way on the Pennine Bridleway near Rochdale today then?

I'm all for proper risk analysis rather than scaremongering. It takes no effort to wear ID, no more than wearing a watch, and costs very little, less than a watch. In an accident it may be invaluable. seems a reasonable trade to me.

How about a dog tag (actual doggy tag) on your keyring? Or something on your wrist - engraved that you always wear?

This is why everyone should be chipped and gps tagged at birth 😉

Why not one of these on your keyring?

http://www.pettag.co.uk/acatalog/info_466.html

Its particularly poignant to me as in hospital I was asked for my next of kin who I couldn't remember. I gave the Doctor my phone who then asked for my pin (which I couldn't remember). Eventually they accessed my phone (maybe I remembered my pin?!) and had to ring a few numbers as I still couldnt remember mrsHora's name 😆

you can set the 'lock screen' on your iphone to give emergency info withotu people havign to unlock it;

eg (sorry for big image)

[img] [/img]

fourbanger - Member
I don't really get the ICE thing. Assuming you have ID and can be identified, what can a relative do apart from bring you flowers in your hospital bed or switch off the machine.

I'm surprised the docs don't see medic alerts useful for underlying medical conditions like diabetes as presumably you'd rather know that the patient brought in with "normal" blood sugar levels and a head injury is going to to get more complicated as the day goes on rather than working out afterwards that they have diabetes.

If you want to do something useful with your phone though to make life easier for your loved ones in the event of your sudden death - can I suggest marking/categorising people in the phone as those that matter and those that don't! Its bad enough having to go through a phonebook calling people to tell them you are dead, without phoning your hairdresser, taxi driver, etc...

I have a road ID bracelet that I wear anytime I'm out on the bike either alone, or with mates. It's just automatic for me, put on helmet and road ID then go ride.

Intitially I thought it was a bit of overkill, but after a couple of close calls when out on my own I'm glad that I wear it.

Can't see the point of this at all.
1) never take a phone with me on the bike anyway so no need for ICE.
2) What's the point of blood group, allergies etc, as above, unless you have some extremely 'different' medical condition.

Can't see the point of this at all.

Really? You see no point in carrying any form of identification, so that if you are hit and critically injured no one knows who you are?

[i]Really? You see no point in carrying any form of identification, so that if you are hit and critically injured no one knows who you are? [/i]

Correct.

I agree. If I were smashed up in an RTC (and I have been) being adressed by the right name or title is the least of my worries.

being adressed by the right name or title is the least of my worries.

especially if remembering it in the first place might be a bigger worry

Hmmm interesting.

Six months ago I was found semi-conscious lying in the middle of a road. Had road cycled from home so wasn't carrying ID and live on my own.

I have no memory of accident or where it happened or why. Then lost consciousness until 11.30 pm when I woke up in hospital in excruciating pain.

My family did not know what had happened until I was discharged 3 days later and phoned them.

I have just bought an ICE wristband. This is mainly because not very many of my friends have my wife's number. If I was to fall and break a pretty major bone I am not sure I would want or be able to get my phone out and call her, but I would hope to be able to show someone the number to call. It would not be for the medics/emergency services, but more for the people I am with