AMBULANCE chiefs have thrown their weight behind a national "In Case of Emergency" mobile phone campaign, launched in the wake of the London bombings.

Phone users are being urged to store personal details on their mobiles to help identify victims of accidents and disasters.

By entering the acronym ICE - for In Case of Emergency - into their mobile's phone book, people can highlight the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency.

Paramedics, police or hospital staff would then be able to use the phone to quickly get in touch with a friend or relative.

A spokeswoman for the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS) said ICE was an excellent idea, and urged mobile phone users to add their emergency contact right away.

Cambridgeshire paramedic Bob Brotchie hatched the plan after struggling to get contact details from shocked or injured patients.

Bob, 41, said: "It's always 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 campaign is also asking people to think carefully about who will be their ICE partner, particularly if that person has to give consent for emergency medical treatment.

The TENYAS spokeswoman said: "This is an absolutely fantastic campaign, and all mobile phone users should have an ICE contact in their phones.

"Of course, our top priority is to get the patient to hospital for treatment but, in many cases, it would be very helpful to know who to phone following an accident. Almost everyone carries a mobile phone nowadays, and the person we contact may know of the patient's medical history."

How ICE works

The process is as easy as adding a new entry into your mobile phone's memory, with the name ICE followed by a name and then the appropriate phone number. For more than one emergency contact number, use ICE1, ICE2 and so on.

Updated: 09:39 Friday, July 15, 2005