How do I set up emergency contacts and medical information on a phone?

Every modern phone carries a feature designed for the moment its owner cannot speak, and most people have never opened it. It is one of the highest-value ten minutes available on a phone.

Safety

Step by step

1. Find the medical ID.On iPhone it is in the Health app under Medical ID. On Android it is usually in Settings under Safety and Emergency, or in the emergency information on the lock screen. Both work the same way.
2. Turn on show when locked.This is the setting that makes it work. Without it, the information is inside a phone nobody can unlock. It is off by default on some devices.
3. Add the medical facts that change treatment.Allergies — particularly to medication — existing conditions, current medication and doses, blood type if known, and whether you are an organ donor. These are what a paramedic actually acts on.
4. Add emergency contacts with the relationship.Name and relationship, not just a number. 'Sarah — wife' tells someone who they are ringing. On iPhone these are also messaged automatically if you use Emergency SOS.
5. Include anything non-obvious.A pacemaker, epilepsy, diabetes, a language other than English, hearing loss, or a dependant at home who would need arranging for. These are what an unconscious person cannot explain.
6. Leave out anything that is only private.It is visible to anyone who picks up the phone. Address, date of birth and detailed history are not needed by a paramedic and are useful to someone else.
7. Set up Emergency SOS.Holding the side buttons calls emergency services, shares your location and messages your emergency contacts. Learn the button combination — and how to cancel it, since accidental activation is common.
8. Turn on crash and fall detection if offered.Newer phones and watches can detect a car crash or a hard fall and call for help automatically if you do not respond. Worth enabling, particularly for anyone who lives alone or drives a lot.
9. Check location sharing works.Emergency calls in the UK can pass your location automatically. Make sure location services are enabled for emergency use, which is separate from general location settings.
10. Do the same on a smartwatch.It syncs from the phone but check it. A watch is often still on someone when a phone has been thrown clear, which is exactly the case this exists for.
11. Set it up for family members.Children with a phone, an older relative, anyone with a condition. Ten minutes each, and it is most valuable for the people least likely to do it themselves.
12. Consider ICE contacts as well.An entry named ICE in the contacts list is an older convention that some responders still check. It costs nothing to add alongside the medical ID.
13. Review it annually.Medication changes, contacts change, conditions develop. Out-of-date medical information is worse than none because it may be acted on.

Tips

• Test it. Lock the phone and try to reach the medical ID from the emergency call screen. If you cannot, the show-when-locked setting is off.
• For anyone with a serious allergy or condition, this supplements a medical alert bracelet rather than replacing it. A phone can be lost, flat or locked in a bag.
• Do this for an older relative's phone when you next set anything up on it. They are the group it helps most and the least likely to have found it.

Common mistakes

• Filling it in but leaving show-when-locked off — The information is then inside a phone nobody can unlock, which defeats the entire purpose. It is off by default on some devices.
• Including private information that has no medical value — It is readable by anyone who picks the phone up. Include what changes treatment and leave out the rest.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask