ICE YOUR PHONE

You have listed an “ICE” contact (In Case of Emergency) in your mobile phone and that’s a good move, but it’s not enough.

What if you are unable to use your phone, have a bad fall or a car accident and you are unconscious and can’t communicate with rescuers?

Your phone is probably protected by a password, but that means a first responder won’t be able to contact your ICE number without unlocking your phone. 

Most of the phones now have a function that allows the emergency information access on a locked screen. It will only take you five minutes to program it. 

IOS (Iphones)

Iphones that run IOS 8 or later have a dedicated app called Health for emergency and medical datas.

1. Open the Health app on your phone.

2. Tap on your profil’s picture

3. Select Medical ID.

4. Fill in the different fields, if some are not relevant we recommend to note “None” for Medical Conditions and Medications, to note “None known” for Allergies & Reactions rather than leaving it blank to avoid confusion.

5. In the Emergency Contacts tap add emergency contact, choose the name(s) in your phone’s contact list and select your relationship with this person. You should program at least two or three different emergency contacts.

6. Make sure that you enable the Show When Locked option at the bottom of the screen.

7. You can also enable the Share During Emergency Call option if you want your phone to share your medical ID with emergency services if they are called with your phone.

8. Give it a test: lock your phone, select Emergency at the bottom left of the screen, then * Medical ID at the bottom left of the screen, check each information.

Android Phones

Note that settings may vary for phones using Android OS. 

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Select About phone, then Emergency information. According to the Android version, if you can’t find this section type Emergency information in the search field at the top of the screen.

3. In the Medical information section select Add information.

4. Fill in the different fields, if some are not relevant, we recommend to note “None known” for Allergies, “None” for  Medications rather than leaving them blank to avoid confusion.

5. In the Emergency contacts, tap Add contacts, choose the name(s) in your phone’s contact list and select your relationship with this person. You should program at least two or three different emergency contacts.

6. Give it a test: lock your phone, select Emergency, then Emergency information at the top of the screen (the system might ask you to tap Emergency information a second time), check each information.

You also have the option of displaying a permanent message or information on your lock screen wallpaper:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Select Display then Advanced

3. Scroll down and tap Lock screen display

4. Select Lock screen message, type your message for example “ICE number: …..” and save.

For any mobile phone operating system

You also have the option of saving a screenshot as your lock screen wallpaper with all the emergency information you want to be able to share.

Unlike with other emergency information settings described above, your lock screen won’t allow emergency responders to dial directly but they will have access to the information displayed on your phone’s screen.

Remember: communication is key in any emergency situation.

Adding medical and emergency contacts information on your phone’s lock screen can help first responders to get precious information.

Make sure the emergency and medical information saved on your phone is always up to date.

Anyone can read this information from your lock screen, and dial your contacts without unlocking your phone.