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

As an always-on device, a smartphone is a good place to store medical information in case of emergencies. Conveniently, both iPhones and Android phones come with a feature that allows you to do just that.

Once this feature is enabled, emergency personnel or anyone else trying to help you will be able to access important information even if your phone is locked and you can’t communicate.

On your Android phone, go to Safety & Emergency in Settings and select Health Information. Activate “Show when blocked” and add health-related information, such as your blood type or medications you take, as well as an emergency contact.

If you’re in an accident, paramedics, police officers, or bystanders can swipe up on the lock screen and then tap the Emergency button to access the stored information.

To add emergency information on iPhone, turn on Show when locked in the Health ID section of the Health app. In this same section, you can store information such as blood type, organ donor status, medications, and allergies. Here you can also add an emergency contact.

On a locked iPhone, you can call up important information by tapping Emergency on the lock screen or pressing the side button five times.