Learn what Medical ID for iPhone is, how to set it up, and how to access anyone’s Medical ID on iPhone and Apple Watch in a life-saving situation.
Accidents always happen to others. That’s what we tend to believe anyway. Besides being largely misguided, thinking you’re less likely to get into an accident than the person sitting next to you can be dangerous, mainly because it can lead to you being unprepared.
There aren’t many ways you can be ready in case something happens to you, but there is one thing you can do right now, directly from your iPhone, and it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes.
Medical ID on iPhone and Apple Watch provides valuable information related to you and your health. Once you set up your Medical ID and enable it to show on the Lock Screen, anyone with physical access to the device can know about your health conditions and reach your emergency contacts. They won’t need your device passcode to see your Medical ID.
Importance of Medical ID
Here’s a hypothetical situation.
Imagine you’re riding your bike and, unfortunately, have an accident. By the time the ambulance comes to you, you’ve already lost a considerable amount of blood. A blood transfusion could save your life, but the medics first need to know what your blood type is. Thanks to Medical ID, they can quickly find out, assuming you filled it out, just by having access to your iPhone Lock Screen. This could save your life.
Medical ID isn’t only helpful to show what your blood type is; it can also be used to display known medical conditions and allergies, which again is information that can be vital.
Plus, a stranger nearby can see your emergency contacts, like your spouse, children, parents, friends, etc., and call them to inform them about the situation.
Overall Medical ID is an excellent feature that you must add and keep up to date on your iPhone.
Create your Medical ID on your iPhone and Apple Watch
1) Open the Health app, tap your profile picture from the top of the Summary or Browse tabs, and select Medical ID. You can also touch and hold the Health app icon and select Medical ID to go straight to it.
2) Tap Get Started and make sure your photo, name, date of birth, primary language, and organ donation information are correct. After that, tap Done and move to edit or add the rest of the details mentioned in the paragraph below.
If you did not see the Get Started button, that means your Medical ID is partially created. Tap the Edit or Add buttons and enter your details, such as medical conditions, allergies and reactions, medications, blood type, weight, height, language, and your emergency contacts.
3) To ensure that someone else can access it from the Lock Screen, enable Show When Locked.
4) To have your Medical ID automatically shared with emergency responders when you call or text emergency services, enable Share During Emergency Call.
After you set up your Medical ID on your iPhone, this data is synced and reflected on your Apple Watch, too. You don’t have to take extra steps to add your Medical ID to your Apple Watch.
Add, edit, or remove your Medical ID records on iPhone
If you want to update your allergies, medical conditions, or emergency contacts, you can change your Medical ID information with these simple steps.
1) Go to the Medical ID section inside the Health app.
2) Tap the Edit button and add the updated information. If you have not filled in some information, tap Add to fill in in now.
3) To remove an emergency contact, tap the Edit button, delete the current details, and tap Done to save it.
See your or someone else’s Medical ID on iPhone Lock Screen
To access Medical ID on an unlocked iPhone, touch and hold the Health app icon and choose Medical ID. You can also go inside the Health app, tap your profile picture, and select Medical ID.
Knowing how to access Medical ID is important for everyone, be it an iOS or Android user. When you know this, you can be a great help to that person who needs immediate medical assistance. Imagine you come across an injured person on the road or in a public place. In this situation, you can call their family member directly from the Lock Screen by accessing that person’s Medical ID. Plus, a doctor or first aid responder can find out about that injured person’s medical conditions, blood type, allergies, and more.
Here are two ways to see someone’s Medical ID on their iPhone.
While powering off
1) Go to the power off screen:
- On iPhone with Face ID, press and hold the right side button and volume up or volume down button.
- On iPhone without Face ID, press and hold the right side button until you see the power off screen.
2) From the power off screen, swipe right on Medical ID.
1) Go to the enter iPhone passcode screen:
- On iPhone with a Home button, press the Home button. Since this isn’t your iPhone, Touch ID will fail and show you the screen to manually enter the passcode.
- On iPhone with no Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Since this isn’t your iPhone, Face ID won’t unlock the device, and after a few seconds of the failed attempt, it’ll show the screen to enter the passcode manually. You can also tap “Face ID” to get to the manual password entry screen.
2) Tap Emergency.
3) Tap Medical ID to see the person’s health details and emergency contacts.
See Medical ID on Apple Watch
1) Press and hold the flat side button on the right edge of the Apple Watch to see the power off screen.
2) Slide the Medical ID button to the right to access emergency contacts and health details.
Call emergency contact visible in the Medical ID
On an iPhone (that’s locked by a passcode), you can tap the emergency contact’s phone number on the Medical ID screen, and it will call that person.
However, I noticed that on an Apple Watch that’s locked by a passcode, tapping the name or number on the Medical ID screen doesn’t place a normal or FaceTime audio call from the watch. In this case, you can use the person’s iPhone to reach their emergency contacts or see the emergency contact’s number on their Apple Watch and call them using your phone.
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