How to set up emergency contacts on your phone
Set up emergency contacts in your phone's health or safety settings: add one or two people, fill in the medical information fields you are comfortable sharing, and turn on the option to show it on the lock screen. Then learn your phone's emergency SOS shortcut, which calls emergency services and can alert your contacts with your location.
Why it matters: Two minutes in settings means responders can reach your people.
Steps
- Open your phone settings and search for emergency or medical ID.
- Add one or two emergency contacts and the relationship for each.
- Fill in allergies, conditions or other details you want responders to know.
- Turn on the setting that shows this information on the lock screen.
- Find the emergency SOS setting and read exactly which button presses trigger it.
- Tell your contacts they are listed and what might prompt a call.
- Check the details every six months.
Common mistakes
- Listing a contact who rarely answers the phone.
- Not testing whether the information shows on the lock screen.
- Turning on SOS without knowing how easily it triggers.
Teach this to someone
A one page sheet for showing a friend, a teenager or a parent: what to say, what to show, and one question to check it landed.
Teach: How to set up emergency contacts on your phone
What to say
Set up emergency contacts in your phone's health or safety settings: add one or two people, fill in the medical information fields you are comfortable sharing, and turn on the option to show it on the lock screen. Then learn your phone's emergency SOS shortcut, which calls emergency services and can alert your contacts with your location.
What to show
- Open your phone settings and search for emergency or medical ID.
- Add one or two emergency contacts and the relationship for each.
- Fill in allergies, conditions or other details you want responders to know.
- Turn on the setting that shows this information on the lock screen.
- Find the emergency SOS setting and read exactly which button presses trigger it.
- Tell your contacts they are listed and what might prompt a call.
- Check the details every six months.
Check question
Why show medical information on the lock screen?
Answer: Responders can see it without unlocking. In an emergency you may not be able to unlock the phone yourself.
Your checklist
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Sources
This skill is general practice and draws on no single published source.
Written in our own words from the sources above. It is general information, not advice for your situation; where a professional, your doctor or your lease says something different, follow them.
Last reviewed . First published .