The I.C.E. e-mail is definitely making the rounds again. We had a previous discussion on this topic before. You can find it here
I still don't believe this is a good idea at all. I stand by what I said about the cell phone issue before. To paraphrase, I have too many other things to do for patient care than to look for certain numbers to call. How would you feel if a complete stranger called you and said "This is Joe, I am a Paramedic, your friend, or loved one, is hurt, tell me if they have any illnesses I need to know about? Oh and what meds are they on?" I don't think I would enjoy such a call. I can only imagine the emotions going through the receiving persons mind when you make a call like this.

I have also heard there is a scam where a person call you on either your home phone, or cell phone and says they are from such and such medical center, or hospital and a neighbor, friend etc. was just brought to the emergency room from a car accident. We don't know much right now...but your friend wanted you to know. Call this number in an hour (they give number) and we will update you. The number you call routes the call to a Bahamas address and they charge you $200-$1000 a minute for the call and then you learn you are scammed. The cell provider I use told me this one (T-Mobile) and now I am very cautious about out of area calls. The Hospitals I know won't tell you much of anything if you call. This is to protect patient rights.

Stargazer