This week on Family on the Phone, we are going to go over the numbers you must have programmed in your phone. Be sure to share this vital information with your friends and family too.

Numbers to Program into Your Phone

1. ICE or In case of emergency. This is a number or more than one if you need it (like ICE 1, ICE 2) that you program into your phone for emergency personnel to contact your loved ones in case of emergency and you are not able to give them this information. This program was started back in the mid 2000′s and promoted more heavily in 2005 by a British paramedic. Emergency personnel know to look for ICE in your contact list if something should happen to you.
2. Your Home number.
3. You and your spouses work number.
4. The non-emergency police number.
5. Family Doctor.
6. Family Dentist.
7. Local Hospital.
8. The pharmacy you use.
9. Your mechanic.
10. A towing company.
11. Utility companies.
12. Your child’s closest friends. You’ll appreciate this one if your child is unaccounted for some day.
13. Everyone’s number in the house who has a cell phone.
14. Local relatives.
15. Your Bank
16. Your Credit Card Companies
17. Your Insurance Agent
18. Your children’s school office numbers.
19. Daycare

Numbers to Program Into Your Children’s phones

1. ICE (See above) For your child’s phone, make sure you use the ICE1 and ICE2 to list more than one emergency contact such as your and your spouse, older siblings, a neighbor, etc.
2. You and your spouse’s cell phone number. List them as Mom and Dad.
3. Home number if you have one.
4. Work numbers for Mom and Dad.
5. Hospital.
6. All local relatives. List them as Sister, Brother, Aunt Mary and so on. (This may seem redundant but not all people coming in contact with your child in case of emergency are emergency personnel and may not know about ICE.
7. Towing company (for your older children who drive)
8. Mechanic (again, for your driving children)
9. Local Cab Company

photo credit: doobybrain

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• “When I hit a deer with the jeep and needed emergency services and to contact my husband”
• “When (my) husband’s father had a heart attack. We were able to call my husband’s sister and keep in touch with her while she drove 5 hours. We were also able to inform other family members.”
• “I can tell you why I got a cell phone. I was in a pretty good accident (ice). There was no one else involved so I was out on the highway in the dark all by myself. A weird guy tried to get me in his car. Luckily, a family stopped and let me use their cell phone. Needless to say, I’ve had a cell phone ever since-that was 1994.”
• “When a tornado hit the town my husband works in, the landlines were down but the cell phones were working so we could stay in contact.”

For some of you they just plain proved themselves to be vital to your everyday lives.

• “It happens daily. From ‘bring home the milk’ to ‘pick up the kids’ to ‘I’m stuck in traffic’ to ‘I need to find an alternate route’. Couldn’t be nearly as efficient without my cell.”
• “Usually it’s when I’m locked out of the house; which happens often!”
• “When my car was in an impound lot and I had to wait four hours to get my car, it was so nice to let the kids and their dad know when I’d be there to pick ‘em up and keep communication open.”
• “We were able to keep in touch with my son while awaiting the birth of my grandson without being tethered to the phone.”
• “I’m able to bring a phone in for my mom to use (she’s in a nursing home and unable to have a phone of her own. It’s nice because she can call long distance and it doesn’t cost me a penny).”
• “Communication has never been better within our family.”
• “My son constantly needs rides as he is not driving yet. With his own phone, he can contact me or my husband or even my father to get home safely.”

I know I’ve experienced a number of these situations and some unique ones of my own from the mundane to the “your child is sick at school” call. I don’t honestly know how I’d live without my cell phone anymore. It has saved the day for me more times than I can remember. How about you? What’s your story?

photo credit: paulhami

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Some rules were related to safety.

• No driving and texting
• No answering calls or texts or calls from unknown numbers.

A few rules were about school or church.

• Phones taken away if grades drop or school work not completed
• No using the phone on the bus or at school except for emergencies
• No taking the phone to church

Many parents are teaching their children responsibility with rules regarding their cell phones. This includes using the cell phone after a certain time in the evening.

• If parents call, they must answer
• They have responsibility to monitor minute usage; if they go over, they pay the difference
• Limited downloads; only with prior permission
• No obscene texting, phone calls or pics
• If grounded, cell phone is the first thing to go
• Parents can examine phone and/or records at a moment’s notice
• No going to bed with cell phone in the bedroom-phone stays on charger downstairs or in parents room
• No cell phone after X time at night
• No texting or phone calls during dinner
• Time limits on phone calls-no marathon calls
• No letting friends borrow the phone

Thank you for your participation in our survey. Look for more resulting blogs from the survey coming up.

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