ICE or Emergency Contacts on iPhone or iPad
UPDATED: 1 May 2021
At the time of the original blog entry (29 June 2016), it was expected that Apple would roll out the Health app to the iPad after first rolling it out to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Unfortunately, this didn’t come to pass. Believe it or not, there isn’t an “official” way to look up emergency contact information on the iPad yet!
What I would suggest is to type up your emergency contact information and print it out in landscape mode. Next, take a photo of that printed sheet with the iPad. Lastly, set that photo as your wallpaper (Settings ➞ Wallpaper). It works albeit a bit “low tech” though. The wallpaper will be completely visible even if first-responders cannot get into the iPad because it’s locked.
ICE or Emergency Contacts on iPhone or iPad
Emergency contact information is important for everyone. The good news is that with the built-in Health app, adding emergency medical contact information to your iPhone or iPad is as simple as a few taps.
This is a powerful and potentially life-saving tip! Most EMTs know where to look on an iPhone for emergency contacts but many folks don't have even set up. If you're not using Health for at least this feature, I encourage you to take a few minutes to change that. Emergency Health ID allows anyone to access basic and potentially life-saving health information from your iPhone’s lock screen. To set up Emergency Health ID:
- Open the Health app (white square with red heart in upper right-hand corner).
- Tap Medical ID on the bottom right.
- Add as much or as little information as you feel comfortable sharing during time of emergency. Some of the things you can enter include allergies & reactions, medications being taken, people that should be contacted in case of an emergency, blood type, whether or not you're an organ donor, height, and weight. *** Make sure to turn on "Show When Locked" to ensure your Medical ID can be viewed when iPhone is locked by tapping Emergency, then Medical ID. ***
- Now when you or others touch "Emergency" in the lower left corner of your lock screen, your medical details and emergency contact numbers appear as well even though the actual phone contents are locked with a passcode. If the EMT is trying to save your life, he doesn't need access to your email or photos, just your emergency contact & health information!
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