How To Set Up Medical ID On Your iPhone

The imminent iOS 13.5 update includes a new feature that could save your life. Once the update drops, you’ll be able to opt into automatically sharing your medical ID with emergency dispatchers and first responders, which will then provide you with the best care.

In order for this to be useful in the slightest, you’ll need to have set up your Medical ID in the iOS Health appApple‘ caption=’Screenshot: Apple‘ align=’right’ clear=’true’ ]

Any medical information you enter is saved locally on your device(s) and encrypted—it’s never transmitted to Apple’s servers and Apple cannot access it remotely. Sharing with medical responders occurs via end-to-end encryption, and anyone with physical access to your device can pull up your Medical ID data from your Lock Screen (if you’ve enabled that option).

To edit your Medical ID information:

1. Open the Health app on your iOS device.

2. Tap your profile picture.in the “Summary” screen

3. Tap “Medical ID” under “Medical Details”

4. Tap “Edit.”

5. Add any relevant medical information you wish to share, such as current medications, allergies, blood type, pre-existing conditions, etc.

6. Enabling “Show When Locked” will add an icon to your lock screen your medical information viewable by tapping an icon in the lower left of your lock screen. This is how first responders will be able to access your Medical ID info without needing to unlock your device.

7. Tap “Done” to save the changes and close the editing window.