Planning for emergencies

Following the July terrorist attacks in London, a British ambulance

company began circulating an e-mail about a campaign to encourage

people to store emergency contact information in their cell phones.

The e-mails have been bouncing around the Internet ever since.

The campaign, designed by East Anglian Ambulance Service, advises

that emergency contact information be programmed into the phones

under the acronym ICE, with the idea that the information could

easily be located “in case of emergency.”

Officials with the Newport Beach Fire Department think the cell

phone campaign is a good idea, but they’ve been using Aculert, a

somewhat similar program, for more than 10 years -- and they believe

it’s working fine.

Aculert is a database of information that holds much more than a

contact number. The database is accessible by name or social security

number or from an electronic card that can be carried in a pocket or

wallet. Paramedics can use Aculert to find important information

quickly when treating critical patients.

“It’s definitely important to have that info because, aside from

what we find on the patient during our assessment, that’s some of the

only information we have to decide what’s going on,” said firefighter

paramedic Brian Mahnken.

The fire department offers the Aculert service as part of the

city’s Fire Medics program, a service available at an annual fee to

anyone who lives or works in Newport Beach. The program prevents

residents from having to pay out of pocket if they need to use

ambulance services.

When citizens sign up for the program, they fill out a detailed

medical questionnaire, and all that information goes into the

database, said Cathy Ord, emergency medical services manager with

Newport’s fire department.

Mahnken said the Aculert database has been useful in the treatment

of approximately 25% to 50% of the patients they treat.

The program is especially useful for the elderly, who often forget

to relay medical history during an emergency, Ord said.

Ord said she believes the ICE cell phone program is a good idea,

but that it would be difficult to use when paramedics need to treat a

critical patient. Unlike Aculert, the cell phone program includes

only contact information.

“If this is a critical patient, more than likely they’re not going

to be going into the telephone for that,” Ord said.

There are so many different models of cell phones that it could be

difficult for medics to access information from a phone while they’re

trying to treat a critical patient, Ord said.

Newport Beach paramedics carry a hand-held computer in their

vehicles and can use Aculert to pull up patient information en route

to the hospital, Ord said.

Accessing information about previous illnesses, current

medications and allergies helps emergency personnel to better care

for patients, Mahnken said.

“It does help out sometimes when the patient’s unable to talk to

us,” Mahnken said.

The cell phone campaign would be of more use once a patient is in

the hospital and employees are trying to locate contact information,

Ord said.

Newport paramedics are sticking with the Aculert system, Ord said.

“Where it really matters, more than likely I don’t believe the

fire department’s going to use it [the cell phone program] as much,”

Ord said.

* LAUREN VANE covers public safety and courts. She may be reached

at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at [email protected].