Medical ID is a built-in feature of your iPhone's Health app that gives ambulance crews and other emergency first responders fast access to potentially life-saving information about any allergies or medical conditions you have, even if your iPhone is locked.
Even if you don't suffer from any health conditions, it's still worth enabling Medical ID, because it can also provide other vital information about you to emergency services, such as your blood type and who to contact in an emergency. This article shows you how to set up Medical ID in iOS 11.
How to Set Up Your Medical ID in iOS 11
- Launch the Health app on your iPhone. (If you're using an iPhone 6s or later, firmly press the Health app icon to jump straight to the Medical ID via 3D Touch and skip the next step.)
- Tap Medical ID at the bottom of the screen.
- If you're in the U.S., you can opt to register as an organ donor with Donate Life America by tapping the option at the bottom of the Medical ID screen. If you don't want to register, or you're outside the U.S., simply skip this step.
- Tap the Edit button at the top right of the screen.
- Under Emergency Access, toggle the Show When Locked switch to the On position. Make sure you perform this step, otherwise emergency services won't be able to access your Medical ID.
- Start adding information to your Medical ID card. Apart from your name and date of birth, the other types of information you can add in this section include medical conditions and medical notes, allergies and reactions, medications, blood type, organ donor status, weight, and height. (Note that information added to your Medical ID isn't included in your Health Data or shared with other apps.)
- Under Emergency Contacts, tap the green plus sign to add someone from your Contacts list. (You can add several people, but bear in mind that if you use the Emergency SOS feature on your iPhone's lock screen, all emergency contacts receive a message alerting them of the SOS and your location.)
- For each emergency contact you add, select an option from the list that best describes your relationship to that person, e.g. "father" or "doctor".
- Tap Done in the top right of the screen when you're finished.
Accessing Medical ID on a Locked iPhone 8 or Earlier
- Press the Home button on the iPhone to activate the passcode screen.
- Tap Emergency in the bottom left corner of the passcode screen.
- Tap Medical ID in the bottom left corner of the Emergency keypad screen.
Note: If the Apple handset doesn't have a Home button, swipe up with your finger from the bottom of the screen to trigger the passcode screen, or use the alternative method for accessing Medical ID below.
Accessing Medical ID on a Locked iPhone X or Later
- Simultaneously press and hold the Side (power) button on the right and the Volume Up button on the left of the handset.
- Swipe rightwards across the Medical ID slider.
Related Roundup: iOS 11
Tag: health
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