ICE – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Catalyst Software
Version #: 1.0.1
Date Released: 2008-07-18
Developer:
Price: 0.99
User Rating:
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ICE. In Case of Emergency. Not something most of us give much thought to, especially the younger or immortal ones among us.
What this app attempts to do is give a central location on your iPhone to store all of your essential emergency medical information. Contacts, medication and allergies.
The concept began in England a few years ago and is rapidly spreading around the world. Cell phone users are urged to put an entry in their phone under the name of ICE. This listing would be the emergency contact for the owner of the phone. A parent, partner, spouse or even just a friend. Multiple contacts could be labeled ICE1, ICE2 etc.
Taking it a step farther, Cube Yellow Media has written an iPhone app that does all that and a little more. You can list all of your medications and the dosage, allergies and lastly emergency contacts. You can add multiple entries to each category. For example, I am allergic to both NSAIDs (anything in the aspirin family) and all adhesives. Yup, not even a bandaid! Cause’ when I’m stuck on bandaid, bandaid’s stuck on me! For good!
The aspirin allergy could be fatal, and the tape allergy will cause me great pain and suffering when the adhesive permanently bonds to my skin.
All of this valuable info is in one convenient place for the authorities to find it. Jeff from Cube Yellow tells me they are working on version 1.1 and it will add your blood type to the data.
A few things I would change or add. Blood type info is not used in hospitals. They aren’t going to give you blood until they have cross matched you themselves, so this info would be of no use. Maybe in World War II, but today, well they do the test first so I would probably leave this out. I would password the ability to change the information contained. It should be easy to read, but not easily deleted or altered by fumble fingered, iPhone illiterate staff (no offence intended here). I would also like to see the ability to edit the medication. Currently if your dosage changes, you have to delete the item and re enter it. Those drug names are long and hard to spell!
One last thing I would add. If possible, I would have the app generate wallpaper with contact information on it. Some people lock their iPhones at every opportunity to keep prying eyes away. This app would be unavailable under these circumstances. Wallpaper always shows when you turn your iPhone display on.
Lastly, one little bug I discovered. My birthday is at the end of December. ICE calculates your age from your date of birth. Unfortunately it showed me to be a year older than I actually am. A minor bug, but really, once you are old enough to drink alcohol, who needs to be older than they really are?
Quick Take
Value: High
Would I Buy Again: After a few fixes? In a heartbeat.
Learning Curve: Medium-low
Who is it for: Anyone and everyone
What I like: Organizes the info nicely
What I Don’t: needs to lock the info from too easy changes.
Final Statement: Potential here is very high. I can’t wait to see version 2.
ICE provides emergency personnel a quick, easy, and obvious way of finding out exactly who you would like to be contacted in the event you are unable to contact them yourself. Integrating with your contact list and specifying relationships to you, emergency personnel know exactly to whom they will be talking.
ICE also calls out other important information like allergies, medications, and medical conditions. Lists of over 175 of the most common of these are provided from which you may select. You may also make your own custom entries, as well as make notes about each allergy, medication, or medical condition.
O U R T A K E . . .
