Most people know about ICE (in case of emergency) contacts in their phone. But what if your phone is locked? While you may never need it, having your emergency contact information available for anyone to find could come in handy. If you have a medical condition or severe allergies, it could save your life! In the latest Apple Watch OS, you can call emergency services and text your emergency contacts just by pressing and holding the side button .
Setting up Medical ID on your iOS device is simple. You can add as much information as you like (just remember, it’ll be visible to anyone who knows how to access it without unlocking the screen).
First, open the “Health” app (it should be on your iPhone iOS 8 and newer and you can’t delete it). If you can’t find the icon on screen, swipe down and search for it.
Now in the bottom right corner, select “Medical ID” and then “Create Medical ID”. Be sure to allow “Show When Locked”.
Now you will have the option to add all sorts of useful information, which emergency personnel may need to know, especially blood type, allergies, existing conditions, etc.
Scroll down to “Emergency Conctacts” and choose “add emergency contact”. You can add as many people as you like from your contacts here, and designate their relationship to you.
Now, when your phone is locked, press the home button, and instead of entering your passcode, choose “Emergency” and on the bottom left corner, you will see “Medical ID” in red. When you choose it, it will show all your emergency contacts and allow you to call by pressing their name. If you use the SOS feature on Apple Watch, it will text them your location after you contact emergency personnel.
Here is a helpful guide to setting up the SOS feature on your Watch. How to set up SOS on Apple Watch
And, if you’re still not convinced, here’s a story of the Medical ID/SOS in action! College student credits Apple Watch with saving his life.
We hope you never have to use it, but being informed can make a difference. Be sure your loved ones have this useful feature enabled, too!
Be careful out there. From your friends at TechRestore.
