It’s one thing choosing the people who will be your own ICE Contacts.
But when it comes to choosing the people to be with your child in the emergency room if you and your spouse can’t get to her immediately — that’s a whole other matter.
Don’t worry. You’re not alone.
In fact many parents have so much trouble deciding who to appoint as their child’s alternate emergency contact, that they end up not appointing anyone. This couldn’t have been more evident, than in the days after September 11th, when two thousand, one hundred children were left stranded in daycare.
Why?
Because their parents hadn’t filled out the “Who should we contact if you are not able to pick up your child?” field on their daycare emergency contact cards.
How could something so basic, strand two thousand children on one of the scariest days in American history? Simple. Parents who love their children so much, that they just couldn’t think through what might happen, if they and their spouse were unable to reach them.
It doesn’t even take a real emergency for this to happen. You could be stuck on the freeway, or in an airplane you were certain would arrive on time.
But when we’re talking about the ICE Contacts on your child’s smartphone — it’s even MORE important. Your school-aged child is traveling back and forth to school, activities, out playing, visiting friends or at sleepovers… And if he’s like most kids, the only emergency lifeline he has, is his smartphone.
So let’s take a few moments to choose at least two emergency contacts besides you and your spouse.
Imagine that you have an accident or are in the middle of a transportation nightmare and you and your spouse are unable to pick up your child from school one afternoon.
Now imagine that you can’t get to her for two or three days.
Who would you want taking care of her?
You need someone who knows your child extremely well. Someone who would be able to calm her down and would have the energy to care for her. Someone who knows what she likes and dislikes. And, in case of extreme emergency like September 11th, it would really help to have someone with the ability, brains and fortitude to help locate you or your spouse, if overburdened emergency personnel weren’t able to help.
That’s the kind of thought you need to put into emergency planning, especially where your children are concerned.
Once you come up with your top two or three picks, give them a call and ask them if they would be comfortable being your child’s ICE Contact. Some people simply aren’t good in an emergency or wouldn’t want to be responsible for the well being of another person, no matter how much they love your child.
If you need help creating an ICE Contact for your child, you’ll find a post on it, right here on the blog.
When you have the contacts set up on his phone, sit down with the people you’ve chosen to be his ICE Contacts and let them know where his medical history, list of allergies and anything else they need is located on his phone. Even better, give them a copy of his medical history form, or send them the link to it, so that if they ever need to, they can pass along that information to emergency personnel, until you arrive on scene.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our other posts like How To Put An ICE Contact On Your iPhone, or How To ICE Your Samsung Galaxy to learn everything you need to know about ICEing your own phone.
Taking five minutes now to choose your child’s emergency contacts, could be one of the smartest moves you’ve made all week!
Have Fun Getting Your Stuff Together! We’ll talk later…
Introducing… Connected
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Connected | The Book Inspired By The Blog.
What if I told you, there was one thing that you own and probably have with you right now, that can give you the support, information & ability you need to keep everyone and everything you love safe and sound, PLUS the power to gather your family in seconds no matter where they are. What is it? It’s your smartphone! Introducing Connected, an easy to read, easy to use guide that gives you everything you need to turn your smartphone into your very own life preserver. Purchase Connected @ Amazon.com