BUSINESSES AND ICE

Hello business owners......the intellectual property here is available for your use - to sponsor or promote your support for ICE.
Print out pamphlets with your business name and logo affixed, hand out cards with your logo or business name attached, put up posters telling people how to use ICE.

When you place advertisements, you can use the ICE logo on your site and have people come to your business to pick up cards or stickers that you printed - for free of course.
You are providing a valuable service to your community.

Fire Departments can do the same....sportsmen/women groups, ball clubs, seniors, professional groups.....car dealers as well. You don't have to think real hard about how to spread the word. Print your own ICE materials or use the printer set up already and save a few bucks.

Now what about those cell phone companies.......???

Your call.

Memorial Weekend

Are you travelling or boating or camping or hiking, picnicking out of town? Is there a plan for what you will do in the event of an emergency? Will your family stand around with their hands up to their face screaming or mute in fear because you hurt yourself or passed out?

Gee, we hope not and if they do then maybe you should take the time to have a heart to heart with the family or your significant other. Who to call, what hospital, any special medical info pertinent to your treatment, allergic reactions to medicines.....this would be great stuff to forget about knowing you would be the only patient in the ER....but you won't and people make mistakes...plenty of them.

Here is a sobering thought...again....on average it takes 5.5 hours for your family or next of kin to be notified in the event of an emergency.

Take a few minutes, program the phone, fill out some info on a medical emergency form, tell someone where you are going, when you'll most likely be back and have some emergency contact info available in hard copy.

That's a start. Have a safe holiday! See you when you get back.

ICE - It Isn't Just for Phones Anymore

Hello?

Many a politician and public official seems to have jumped on the ICE bandwagon at one point or another in the last year, espousing how wonderful an idea ICE is and that "everyone" should take part.

Can't argue with that! But what do your do next?

For starters you can visit the web site ICE4SAFETY.COM to get yourself up to speed on what you might do to improve your awareness and preparedness while travelling, hiking, biking, boating, camping or simply walking the street.

We live in an unpredictable world where things sometimes beyond our comprehension and control can happen. Sometimes these events can adversly affect our well being forever. You may chose to resign yourself to that fact and let fate take it's course, or you can decide that your life is a great gift and do some things to help yourself.

No, this isn't a site for survivalists - but many of those types of ideas do have merit and are now finding more acceptance in today's world. Case in Point -how many home generator installations did you see 10 years ago? How many do you see today?

Plenty of philosophical ideas on the merits of taking more responsibility for ourselves and to help others help us (like firemen, police, EMS, doctors, etc) in those times of dire emergency. We will try and dispense with much of that and focus on addressing how to use ICE. Feel free to contribute your ideas.

ICE and TECHNOLOGY

Some things you may wish to consider when you are deciding on what emergency info system you will rely on in case of an emergency.....

• Is the technology reliant on using a computer during an emergency?
• Does it work as promised in remote locations?
• Does it rely on a third party contact to provide needed information?
• How easy is it to update/change info and how often can it be done without cost?
• Can the efficacy of this system be improved through use of low tech back up?

Note: The time to find out is not during the emergency.

REMINDER

LET US ALL REMEMBER THE SACRIFICES OTHERS HAVE MADE AND THAT ARE BEING MADE THIS VERY MINUTE SO THAT WE MAY ALL CONTINUE TO BE FREE. FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE.

ICE TIPS - DOCUMENT STORAGE

In the event you are caught up in a situation that is beyond your control and you need to remove yourself from your home or office in a hurry - and maybe for an extended period..it may be necessary for you to have taken some steps to ensure that you don't compound that situation by not being prepared. You will need to have some ID and some access to additional info as a "best practice".

You can, have some valuable info stored on an inexpensive USB Drive secured by password..not much good if you can't function - unless you share the password. But if this is not an issue, it could be a good alternative to lugging around your life's worth of documents. You can have important documents, licenses, deeds, medical info, photos of family/home/valuables/insurance policies/bank statements/investment info on hand and quickly using this method....The list goes on and we will place such a list on the ICE Tools section along with a storage document template. Use an ICE Sticker to differentiate the info inside as emergency info. Consider it as a backup to your everyday files if that makes you feel better.

This is the stuff that when SHTF and you have to leave your abode or work due to a hurricane/tornado/flood/hazmat release/terrorism....you will have something to show FEMA or your insurance carrier to start getting your life back in order.....take the time now to save valuable time later when you are all messed up. Most people are lazy and won't take the time - smart folks will (and have) and these generally won't be the one's waving from the rooftops.

Best bet and simplest to do is an Excel Spreadsheet with multiple worksheets - one for personal info - one for inventory and photos - one for finances/life-health insurances - one for important document lists and emergency contact numbers. Have a folder of scanned documents including licenses, passports, ID's, AAA card, vehicle insurance/registration, home insurance, health insurance, credit cards....etc. Nothing like having you "stuff" together.

Okay your first thought is Identity Theft...don't leave it on the seat of your car. This is short term emergency storage - update as often as needed and store data more permanently on CD/DVD and secure in a safe/vault/other home/underground if so disposed.....as for emergency medical info use the ICE Card/Sticker and Med Info Form combo for immediate access to others.

We'll get into things like emergency gear and lists of things to have on hand during our day to day activities....soon. We will KISS first and drill down to more detailed info later.

ICE TIPS - Notification Delays

Here is a sobering fact....the average amount of time it takes for authorities to accomplish notification of family members after an accident or emergency is 5 1/2 hours! Now that is an average time...now add what you like to that time in the event of even a minor disaster.....or you are out of state travelling (plane, train, auto).....or camping, biking, hiking....or caught up in a major incident....are you getting the picture.....great! Boy Scouts have it right...be prepared, the life you save may be your own.

WELCOME ICE BLOGGERS

Thank you for visiting ice4safety.com to participate in promoting awareness and use of ICE to increase your chances of surviving in an emergency!