Add Your Medical Information to Your iPhone’s Homescreen

Medical Information to Your iPhone's Homescreen

Your medical information can mitigate emergencies

Emergencies are always unexpected, and can happen to anyone. In such situations, there might be nothing you can do to prevent the emergency, but others can. We’re usually at the mercy of first responders who come to our aid – from auto accidents to severe weather conditions and wildfires, first responders are typically the first on the scene.

But although we might be helpless during an emergency, we can take some steps to help those first responders help us. We can make things a bit easier for them by identifying ourselves, our medical information, and emergency contacts.

But what if it’s a severe emergency? One where you’re unconscious, for instance. How, then, could you inform first responders of your medical information?

In such a case, having emergency information readily available on your iPhone becomes a very smart decision. In this post, we show you why it’s important to have your medical information on your iPhone, and how to add it and make it accessible to others without compromising any private data inside your locked iPhone.

Smartphones are the new wallets

Almost everyone owns a smartphone these days – even kids. According to Statista, Australia will have 18.44 million smartphone users this year, and 19.27 million by 2022. That’s around a whopping 78% of the population.

18.5 million smartphone users in Australia this 2020

Estimates indicate almost 18.5 million smartphone users in Australia this 2020.  Source.

The Apple iPhone is a favourite amongst Australians. Of the many Australian smartphone users, 8.6 million of them use iPhones – that’s around 45 percent of the population’s smartphone users.

These iPhones hold large amounts of information about their owners, just like wallets used to do around a decade ago. Today, people keep their financial information on their iPhones, their resumes might be there as well, communications with employers and employees, and so on.

For the most part, we want to guard those information given how private they are. As a result, we often lock our iPhones to avoid unauthorised access.

But in cases where there’s an emergency, keeping some information on your iPhone readily accessible can be a life or death situation. For first responders, this is crucial – your medical information can be a necessary factor for saving your life or preventing severe injuries, and being able to identify you can be the difference between letting your loved ones know what’s going on, or leaving them in the dark.

But how can my medical information be accessed on my iPhone without invading my privacy?

We understand your privacy is a major concern, so we’ve found a way around leaving your iPhone completely vulnerable to whoever wants to take a peak. You can add your medical information to your iPhone’s home screen (the lock screen) in a ways that doesn’t require first responders to actually unlock your phone.

This means that all your private information stays private and locked away in your phone, and the first responders only see what you want them to see, without having access to your PIN code.

How to add emergency information to your iPhone’s lock screen

Adding your medical and/or contact information to your iPhone’s lock screen is pretty simple. Here’s how:

  • Open your Health app;
  • Tap the “Medical ID” tab;
  • Tap “Edit”;
  • You can then enter a wide range of medical information and emergency contacts.

The info you add will then be available on your iPhone’s lock screen. To access it, all the first responder would have to do is hit “Emergency”, followed by “Medical ID”, and your medical information and/or emergency contacts will appear.

For Android users, don’t worry – you can also add your emergency information to your lock screen.

Final words

Adding emergency information to your lock screen isn’t only for first responders. Imagine losing your iPhone (that very, very expensive device) and it gets found by someone who’s kind enough to want to return it to the owner. How, then, would the person know who the owner is?

Having your emergency contact information on the lock screen will do you a lot of good in such a situation. All the good Samaritan would have to do is hit “Emergency” on your lock screen, followed by “Medical ID” to find all your emergency information, which should include your emergency contacts if you add them.