How to set up Medical ID and Emergency SOS on your phone

If something happens and you can’t speak for yourself, your phone can do it for you. Medical ID shows your health information and emergency contacts on the lock screen, without anyone needing your passcode. Emergency SOS lets you call for help and alert family with a quick button press.

Both are free and already on your phone. They just need to be filled in and turned on.

What to have ready

• A list of medical conditions and medications
• Allergies, especially to medications
• Blood type, if you know it
• Two or three emergency contacts and their phone numbers (they need to be in your contacts first)
• Whether you’re an organ donor, if you want to include it

iPhone: set up Medical ID

1. Open the Health app (the white icon with a red heart).
2. Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Medical ID.
4. Tap Get Started or Edit.
5. Fill in your date of birth, medical conditions, medications, allergies and blood type. Use plain words, like "Takes blood thinner (Eliquis)" or "Allergic to penicillin."
6. Scroll to Emergency Contacts, tap add emergency contact, choose a person, and pick their relationship.
7. Turn on Show When Locked. This is the important one. Without it, nobody can see your Medical ID in an emergency.
8. Turn on Share During Emergency Call so your information is sent to responders when you call 911 (where supported).
9. Tap Done.

Check that it works

Lock your phone, then tap or swipe to wake it. Tap Emergency at the bottom of the passcode screen, then Medical ID. You should see everything you entered. First responders are trained to look here.

iPhone: set up Emergency SOS

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Emergency SOS.
3. Turn on Call with Hold and Release. To call, press and hold the side button and either volume button, then let go.
4. You can also turn on Call with 5 Button Presses: press the side button quickly five times.
5. Keep Call Quietly off if you want a loud countdown alarm, which can help prevent accidental calls.

When an emergency call ends, your iPhone texts your emergency contacts with your location, unless you cancel.

Practice the button press without completing the call: as soon as the slider appears, let go, or tap the X to cancel.

Crash Detection and Fall Detection

iPhone 14 and later can detect a severe car crash and call for help. Make sure Call After Severe Crash is on in the Emergency SOS settings. For falls, an Apple Watch is the device that does the detecting. See how to set up fall detection on Apple Watch.

Android: medical info and emergency contacts

Menus vary by brand. Here are the two most common.

Samsung Galaxy

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Safety and emergency.
3. Tap Medical info and fill in conditions, allergies, medications and blood type.
4. Go back and tap Emergency contacts to add people.
5. Tap Emergency SOS and turn on Press side button 5 times. Choose whether it calls 911 and shares your location with your contacts.
6. Make sure medical info is set to show on the lock screen. On the lock screen, tapping Emergency call should show a Medical info option.

Google Pixel

1. Open the Personal Safety app (or Settings > Safety & emergency).
2. Tap Medical information and fill it in.
3. Tap Emergency contacts and add people.
4. Tap Emergency SOS, turn it on, and choose whether it should call emergency services and share your info with contacts.
5. Check that Show when locked is turned on for emergency information.

Other Android phones usually have similar options under Settings > Safety & emergency or Settings > About phone > Emergency information.

Tips that make a real difference

• Keep it current. Update Medical ID when medications change. A quick look every few months is a good habit.
• Use full names for contacts, like "Sarah Lee (daughter)" rather than just "Sarah."
• Add your doctor as a note in the medical notes field.
• Write your primary language if it isn’t English.
• Watch and phone together. If you have an Apple Watch, it uses the same Medical ID automatically.

Adult children: a good gift of ten minutes

This is one of the best things to set up during a visit with a parent. Sit together, go through their medication list, and fill it in. Then add yourself and a sibling as emergency contacts. It’s also part of our checklist in setting up a new iPhone for an aging parent.

When to get help

If the Health app or Android safety menus are confusing, or you’d like it set up along with a watch, fall detection and call screening, we can help. We help older adults across DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia, at home or by video, and family members can join the call. Book a free 15-minute call.