Do you ever worry that if you were one day taken to hospital unconscious following an accident, no one would know you were on anticoagulants, so you might bleed to death? This is probably a somewhat unrealistic scenario, but did you know that all newish iPhones are able to show important medical information even when your screen is locked?
I didn’t realise this and expected that with my poor technological skills, I might find it difficult to work out how to do this on my iPhone. But no, it’s really easy. You just click on the Health app which comes with your iPhone and can’t be deleted. I found it in one of my folders where I’d put all the apps I thought I’d never use. It’s a white square with a red heart in the top right hand corner.
It comes up with a screen with a medical ID tab, that looks like a little star/snowflake on the bottom right. Just go into the medical ID, click edit and enter your name, dob, an emergency contact and important medical information; like the fact you’re taking anticoagulants and why and whether you have any allergies.
I entered my health info and now when my phone is locked and I “slide to open”, I can see the keypad for entering my unlock code and in the bottom left of the screen, the word “emergency”. When I click this, it comes up with the ability to make an emergency phone call and also to access my medical information.
Emergency department staff know about this, so it’s a great and free way to give yourself a bit of extra peace of mind.
There’s full information (including some ideas for Android phones) here
Have had a go at this and have managed to put medical info onto the ICE section of my phone. I will have to ask my more techno savvy daughter to show me how to do a screen shot. I always have a medical card in my purse so that’s of some help though not if I’ve been knocked on the head and had my bag stolen.