East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust have started a national campaign to encourage people to store emergency contact details in their mobiles.

Bob Brotchie, a clinical team leader for the Trust, hatched the plan last year after struggling to get contact details from shocked or injured patients. “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. ”

The idea is that everyone should store the phone number of their emergency contact under a entry titled “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) in their mobile phone. If the worst happens, and the person is involved in an accident, the emergency services will immediately know who to call.

This is such a simple idea, I’m surprised no-one has thought of it before.

Neil.