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If you were in an accident, would emergency workers know whom to call?

If you had your cell phone with you, they would - if you had the listing ICE in your phone's address book.

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. It's an approach that appears to have been started in 2005 by a British paramedic.

Here's how it works: You enter ICE in your cell phone's phone-number directory, along with the phone number of the person you want contacted in case of an emergency in which you're dead or otherwise unable to communicate.

If you want to list multiple numbers, you can designate them ICE1, ICE2 and so on.

It's not a perfect approach - cell phones can be lost or damaged in accidents, for example. That's why officials suggest using ICE in addition to, rather than instead of, more traditional forms of identification, such as a wallet card.

Does it work? And is it useful?

Paramedics don't rely on ICE to contact next of kin, said Alan Perdue, director of Guilford County Emergency Services. In fact, he said, paramedics are likely to let law enforcement or hospital workers notify families.

But he said emergency workers welcome any means of getting in touch with victims' relatives.

Moses Cone Hospital spokesman Doug Allred said emergency-department workers there cannot recall any instance in which they used ICE to contact patients' families.

Asst. Chief Harold Scott of the Greensboro Police Department said that "in case of emergency or if someone is in custody, we might (use an ICE listing), but I doubt we'd use them."

Highway Patrol Capt. David McCoy said troopers know to look for ICE listings.

And whether or not ICE is truly helpful, he said, "I've got it in my cell phone."

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lex.alexander@news-record.com