How many of us will be getting a new or upgraded mobile phone over the next couple of weeks? Maybe you have decided to keep your current phone and never thought what a great gimbo it is.

The latest phones have new features, which are being designed and added weekly. Technology advancements allow the phone sizes to decrease and more and more people are taking them for granted as a day-to-day essential.

But all of us, what ever generation of phone, can add a few details on the phone book to save your life in an emergency.

ICE has been a multi-media phenomenon. Since word of the concept spread following the London bombings on July 7, 2005, ICE has been the subject of intense media scrutiny across the world.

By entering the acronym ICE – for In Case of Emergency – into the mobile’s phone book, users can log the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency. More than 75 per cent of people carry no details of who they would like telephoned following a serious accident.

Andy Humm, web designer to Lyneham Village Online, who has been a fully trained first aider for over 32 years, both in the Royal Air Force and civilian workplace, said: “I was reflecting on some of the times I’ve attended the scene of accidents, more so just recently, where people have been frantically searching details of who to contact, particularly to inform a relative."

“It’s difficult to know who to call. Someone might have “mum” in their phone book but that doesn’t mean they’d want them contacted in an emergency.

“Almost everyone carries a mobile phone now, and with ICE we’d know immediately who to contact and what number to ring. The person may even know of their medical history.”

ICE – a brilliantly simple idea to help patients, their relatives and the emergency services. ICE is endorsed by senior police officers, ambulance services, fire chiefs and hospitals across Britain.

Many paramedics or first aiders are now being taught a responders after the immediate first aid has been carried out, to look for the casualties mobile phone with a hope that they have ICE details stored in the phone book. The importance of informing relatives about their loved one’s condition as quickly as possible is paramount at any accident.

What we can do?

People who carry a mobile phone are being encouraged to prefix an existing contact in their phone’s address book with the acronym ICE (In Case of Emergency). The ICE contact should be someone who can be reached if a patient becomes sick or injured to such an extent that they are unable to communicate. The contact should be made fully aware that they have been designated as such.