How to Add Emergency Contacts on iPhone

Setting up emergency contacts on an iPhone means that if you are ever unwell or hurt, the right people can be reached quickly. The clever part is that ambulance staff or a passer-by can see your emergency details and call your family straight from the locked screen, without needing your passcode. For choosing the phone itself, see our guide to the best smartphone for seniors in Australia.

This guide walks through it step by step: adding your emergency contacts through the Health app, setting up Medical ID, putting the people you call most into Favourites, and knowing how Emergency SOS works. It is written for older Australians and the families helping them. None of it takes long, and you only set it up once.

How to add your emergency contacts

Emergency contacts are the people who should be reached first if something happens to you. They are stored inside Medical ID, in the Health app that comes on every iPhone. Many people add a partner, an adult child, and a close friend or neighbour. You can add more than one.

1. Open the Health app

Tap the white Health icon with a red heart on it. If you cannot find it, swipe down on the middle of the home screen and type “Health” into the search box, then tap it.

2. Tap your profile picture, then Medical ID

In the top right corner you will see your profile picture, or your initials in a circle. Tap it, then tap Medical ID. This is the page that holds your emergency information.

3. Tap Edit

Tap Edit in the top right to make changes. The first time you do this, the page may be mostly blank, which is normal. You are about to fill it in.

4. Add an emergency contact

Scroll down to the Emergency Contacts section and tap the green add emergency contact button. Choose someone from your saved contacts, then tap their relationship to you, such as daughter or spouse. The person needs to already be saved in your phone. Repeat this to add a second or third contact.

5. Turn on Show When Locked, then tap Done

Near the bottom, turn on Show When Locked so the switch is green. This is the setting that lets someone reach your contacts in an emergency even when the phone is locked. There is also a Share During Emergency Call option, which passes your details to the call handler when you dial 000. Turn on whichever you are comfortable with, then tap Done to save.

Add your medical information

While you are in Medical ID, it is worth adding any health details that could help ambulance staff treat you safely. This is optional, but useful things to include are allergies, medical conditions, current medicines and your blood type. Fill in only what you are comfortable sharing, and tap Done when you are finished. You can come back and update it at any time, which is handy if your medicines change.

Put key people in Favourites for quick calling

Emergency contacts are for an emergency, but for everyday calling it helps to have the important people one tap away in Favourites. Open the Phone app, tap Favourites along the bottom, then the plus button in the top corner. Choose a person and pick Call, so a single tap rings them. Add the family members, the doctor and a close neighbour, and they will always be right there at the top of the Phone app.

How help is reached in an emergency

Once this is set up, someone helping you does not need your passcode. On the locked phone, they wake the screen, tap Emergency at the bottom of the passcode screen, then tap Medical ID. Your details and emergency contacts appear there, and they can tap a contact to call them.

The iPhone also has Emergency SOS, which calls 000 for you and then texts your location to your emergency contacts. On most iPhones you trigger it by pressing and holding the side button together with one of the volume buttons until the slider appears, then sliding Emergency SOS across. It is worth knowing how it works, but take care not to set it off by accident.