How to set up an iPhone emergency contact

All iPhones come with the Health app, which, along with tracking your steps and other health data, allows you to set up a medical ID. This will display basic personal information, important medical information and emergency contact numbers when accessed from your lock screen. Additionally, your emergency contacts will be automatically contacted and updated on your current location if you make a call using the Emergency SOS feature.

Follow these steps to set it up:

1. Open the Health app on your phone.
2. Select the “Medical ID” tab.
3. Select “Edit” at the top of the screen.
4. Make sure that the “Show When Locked” slider is green.
5. Below, fill in the various fields. If there’s a section that isn’t relevant, such as “Medical Conditions” or “Allergies & Reactions,” it’s a good idea to write “N/A” or “None” instead of leaving it blank to avoid any confusion.
6. At the bottom is the “Emergency Contacts” section; tap “add emergency contact” to create a new contact. Note that you need to have this person’s name and number saved in your phone’s contacts list in order for the app to pull it in.
7. Once you’ve selected a contact, indicate their relationship to you.
8. You can add more than one emergency contact; continue repeating steps six and seve until all your emergency contacts are added.

To test that your Medical ID contains all the information you added, lock your phone and then wake it back up to reveal the Touch ID/passcode lock screen. Tap “Emergency” in the corner to bring up the SOS keypad ― you’ll see the “Medical ID” link in the bottom left. Press this to bring up your ICE info as well as emergency numbers that can be tapped and dialed directly from that screen.