It was bound to happen at some point, the reality of the ICE concept taking a role in the promotion of workplace safety.  If you think about it, there hasn't been a distinct harmonizing symbol that could easily be associated with the many disciplines of Emergency Action Planning, Workplace Safety and Personal Preparedness - until ICE. 

Because of it's freely shared history and widely recognized image, ICE will lend itself again the common good and serve to improve workplace safety.  

ICE4SAFETY and others are working to complete documents and tools that specifically relate to the Federal Agency recommended guidelines for workplace safety in respect to preplanning and personal preparedness for workers.  ICE was developed by safety professionals with workplace safety in mind. 

If your safety organization wants to contribute time and effort to support the Alliance effort you are welcome to contact us here at ICE4SAFETY.     

Listening to the radio and tv in Central New York has gotten better lately since WSEN, WFBL and WTVH have taken up the public service promotion of ICE for the remainder of calendar year 2008!!

Whether you prefer watching news live on tv, listening to oldies all day or enjoying stimulating talk radio discussions with nationally syndicated talk show hosts...you will get the ICE message at the top of the hour if you are anywhere in the Central New York area!!!  A very big thank you goes out to all the advertisers and local merchants that support these stations!  We will keep you posted on the many special events that will be featuring ICE in CNY.....so.....stay tuned (pun intended!) to www.wfbl.com  www.wsenfm.com  and www.wtvh.com for more info.

In case you haven't seen it yet, there have been a number of attempts by some unscrupulous online merchants to capitalize on the success ICE4SAFETY.COM has had in bringing the preparedness message to you as a public service across the United States and abroad. 

One has even gone so far as to establish a similar sounding website URL, hijack hyper-links to this site as their own and even falsely lay claim to news articles documenting the hard work ICE4SAFETY.COM has done simply to relieve you of your money.     

We have received some interesting mail about what these characters are doing and to be quite honest, we might have considered giving them a brief look, but when we found out what they were really about we had to say - no way!   All we can do now is just laugh it up being the positive sorts that we are. 

 Thanks again for the humor - and for your community adopting the (still) only FREE ICE....!

  LOL Mouse 

Verizon has this simple color coded ICE featured cell phone around now and aggressively advertising it to seniors. 

Plenty of features for making calls and voice calling but most importantly dedicated keys for ICE and 911...maybe some of those emails to Verizon were actually read? 
Who knows, but next time you are out to get a more than basic phone - get this one...it is only $20 to boot.

Techno-"gotta have it weenies" may opt for something fancier, but Verizon's answer to the Jitterbug Phone will do just fine. 

Once again, Simple wins.  If you want free sticker(s) to put on the outside.....just send that self addressed, STAMPED, envelope to ICE4SAFETY.....

Solo Scientific has come up with a novel metal striking fire starter tool. It is easy to use and practical to boot. The device is approximately 3.5 inches long and .75 inches in diameter and made of a totally checkered metal exterior for easy gripping and a lanyard hole for attaching to essential gear. 

The device screws apart into two pieces - one is the striking surface comprised of a magnesium alloy rod that uses the substantial scraping blade (no knife needed but you can use one if you had to)  that is screwed into a relieved portion of the metal case.

Simply unscrew the pieces and scrape the blade across the length of the rod and you will get a small number of glowing magnesium embers that will easily set tinder on fire. The rod is firmly secured into the base and won't fall off like the traditional magnesium fire starter flints.  So, in short it takes the best of two items and combines them making your attempt at fire starting that much more successful. 

Remember - REDUNDANCY is important - carry this along with or in place of some of the other fire starting tools.   The ICE fire kit will include this item. 

CampingSurvival.com is now carrying these items and a video of the tool in action.  Visit www.campingsurvival.com  to get yours. Kudos to Andy Putrello, inventor.

Okay, you have your cards all filled out for your group, small business or your family…..and you want to laminate them to protect the information.  No problem – stop out to your local Wal-Mart and pick up  a set of these very inexpensive laminating pouches.  

Scotch (3M) has two fast and easy DIY solutions for laminating your Luggage Tags or ICE Cards.  The Laminated ICE Card can be modified to be used as a ski tag, ski card, worn on a neck chain or a ski bag.  Too simple.  



Package of 10 Biz Card pouches = $4.88  Cost per card = 48 Cents  
Package (2) of Luggage Tags = $1.97 Cost Per Tag = 98 Cents.  Do it Yourself!

  

USB Drives are touted as being one way to carry your emergency information with you if you need to "bug out" in a major storm or disaster.  ICE4SAFETY has created an ICE Tool Box Talk™ on this topic.  If you look to the picture above you will see a representative example of what you can do to list your family names on a USB using folders.  You can simply use files if you prefer or are using this device solo. 
List NAME/PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION/AGE.  Make sure you have a File named READ ME FIRST.  Keep your message here simple, to the point and in large type as to what information is where and any other special instructions. (K.I.S.S.)

Note the security icon at lower left....this will allow you to partition off a segment of your flash drive to store secure information that is only available to someone having a password.  You will find this feature on the name brand USB Portable Drives like Verbatim, SanDisk, Sony, or the high security military drives that have a data destruct feature.  Civilians can purchase these but they cost between $150-$350 so we will discuss them later.

You can purchase a 1-2 Gigabyte Drive for about $20 on sale.  Plenty of room to include Video/Pictures/Critical Info Form(s) and Inventory files as well. Stay away from the free drives passed out at shows as you have no way of knowing where they were made and if they will work.  Also remember - REDUNDANCY......  These drives can break so don't bet the farm on them.  You also might purchase a waterproof version if you can afford one (IronKey makes one).  If not, place the drive in a sealed waterproof container or vacuum seal it.  Tape the cap on securely and have a backup of the info on other protected media such as a CD left in a media/burglar safe or Safe Deposit Box. 

Note: computer media is compromised at 125°F but paper will char at 350°F - a "fire safe" is rated to protect paper and is not the same as "media safe".....don't make that mistake.  You can buy combo versions from Amsec or Gardall. 

ICE4SAFETY has provided the information on how to do this yourself and the tools (except for the USB Drive) to do it yourself.  You can use a label maker to mark the drive "ICE" if you don't have an ICE Sticker.  The security screen from a Verbatim USB Portable Drive is pictured below.  As you can see it prompts you for your password and allows you to determine how much of the drive you want protected from others.  It even allows you to place a memory clue on the drive in case you forget your password. Simple.  Have this ready if you must leave in a hurry.  Have a backup and practice REDUNDANCY.    DIY is Simple.

Making sure that we support your community based efforts, ICE4SAFETY will also be supplying you regularly published ICE Tool Box Talks™ that will be poster sized and an easy read of important information and safety/preparedness tips.
As always these tools are free. 
If you would like to see a particular topic covered for your group, or if you would like to be a contributing writer, please just drop ICE4SAFETY™ a quick email.