How to Set Up a Medical ID on Your Apple Device

Last week I learned a cool and possibly life saving iPhone tip that I know you will all want to know.
Setting up your Medical ID on your iPhone.

Do you remember when the Apple Watch came out and we all updated our devices?
We all gained the Apple Watch app and a Health app.
{Here is a link to a post all about the Apple Watch and how I use it in my classroom.}
The Health App looks like this:

Just like most of those Apple Icons and Apps, you can’t delete it easily.
If you are like me, you shove all those apps in a folder on your device so you don’t see it very often.
The first thing I want you to do is find your health app.

These are the features this app can help you with.
Do you see the bottom right icon that says medical ID? Click there.

Take a few minutes and add your important medical information.

I blocked out some of my personal info from you guys,
but I want you to see the blocks that allow you to add information
like your current health conditions, medications, blood type, height and weight,
and most importantly contact information.
I always have my Hot Hubby listed and my MIL along with their phone numbers.

Why do you need to do this?
When someone gets to your pass code screen,
they can’t get past it if they don’t know the code.

But, there is also an “Emergency” button.

Here is what that screen looks like.

At the bottom, you can see the *Medical ID information tab.
If you select that, it pulls up the medical information screen.

Why do you want to do this?
There are a few good reasons.

1. If you loose your cell phone and it has a pass code, the finder has no way to find you! How can they call you or someone else to let them know they have your phone?
I know it seems unlikely, but it happens.
I found a cell phone right before Christmas.

It was face down on black asphalt in the rain.
I happened to find it but I could not get into the phone to find the owner.
I went to social media to locate the owner.
After a few hours, the owner’s spouse called the phone and was shocked to hear a voice.
I am sure they were looking for the phone in their car and didn’t except to hear a voice.
And based on the location in which I found the phone,
it would have been ruined if I had not picked it up.
And yes… the phone was returned to the owner a few hours later.

2.  If an emergency happens, then those who need to know information about you can get that information. Image if you are diabetic or have a blood disorder.
Or if you are on the scene of an emergency, you can check the person’s phone to
see if they have a medical ID set on it.

3. There is a negative side to this.
Is someone steals your phone, they have your contact’s name and phone number.
If you have a nosy neighbor or co worker, they can grab info from you too.
There are ways around this and here is a good article to read
about how you can turn this feature off if you need to.
http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/iphone-medical-id/