To set up Emergency SOS on your iPhone, add your emergency contacts in the Health app under Medical ID, then check how your phone starts an emergency call in Settings > Emergency SOS. Do it now, on a calm day, so your iPhone already knows who to tell and you already know which buttons to press.
The button presses aren't the same everywhere. If you live in India, your iPhone uses a different method from Australia and the US, so read Step 3 closely.
Step 1: Add your emergency contacts
Emergency contacts are the people your iPhone tells after you call for help. Apple says that "after an emergency call ends, your iPhone alerts your emergency contacts with a text message, unless you choose to cancel." Your iPhone also sends your current location, if it's available, and keeps updating them for a period of time after you enter SOS mode (Apple).
- Open the Health app.
- Tap your profile picture, then tap Medical ID.
- Tap Edit and scroll to Emergency Contacts.
- Tap the Add button, choose a contact and add their relationship to you.
- Tap Done.
To remove someone, tap Edit, tap the Delete button next to their name, then tap Delete (Apple). You can't set emergency services as one of these contacts (Apple).
Choose people who usually answer their phone, and tell them you've added them. A text about an emergency call is much less alarming when they knew it was possible.
Step 2: Fill in your Medical ID
Medical ID is a short health card stored on your phone. Apple says it "helps first responders access your critical medical information from the Lock screen, without needing your passcode", including allergies, medical conditions and who to contact (Apple).
- In the Health app, tap the Summary tab, tap your profile picture, then tap Medical ID.
- Tap Edit and add what a stranger would need to know: medications, allergies, conditions.
- Turn on Show When Locked, so it can be read from your Lock screen.
- Turn on Share During Emergency Call, so it can go to emergency responders.
- Tap Done.
A note on that last setting. Apple says this extra emergency data "is not available in all countries or regions", and its emergency call guide describes sending your Medical ID to emergency services as US only (Apple, Apple). Outside the US, don't count on it being sent. Show When Locked still lets someone helping you read it straight from your phone.
Step 3: Learn how your iPhone starts an SOS call
When you start Emergency SOS, your iPhone counts down and then calls emergency services. How you start it depends on where you are.
In Australia, the US and most other countries: press and hold the side button and either volume button until the sliders appear, and keep holding until the countdown ends (Apple).
In India: quickly press the side button three times until the sliders appear and the countdown ends. Apple says that by default, iPhone "plays a warning sound, starts a countdown, and then calls the emergency services." If you've turned on the Accessibility Shortcut, use the hold method above instead (Apple).
In Settings > Emergency SOS, Apple lists two more options you can switch on or off (Apple):
- Call with Hold and Release: hold and release the side and volume buttons to start a countdown to call emergency services.
- Call with 5 Button Presses: press the side button five times quickly to start the countdown.
Pick the method you'd actually manage under stress, and remember it. If your phone keeps starting SOS in your pocket, this screen is where you change which presses do it.
Step 4: Check Crash Detection
If you have an iPhone 14 or later, it can call for help after a severe car crash. Apple says your phone sounds an alarm and shows an alert for 10 seconds. If you don't respond, it "automatically calls emergency services after a 30-second countdown." It also messages your emergency contacts to share your location and tell them you've been in a severe crash (Apple).
That message only goes out if Messages is your texting app and hasn't been deleted (Apple). The setting is called Call After Severe Crash, under Settings > Emergency SOS.
No signal? Emergency SOS via satellite
On iPhone 14 or later, you can text emergency services by satellite when you have no mobile or Wi-Fi coverage. It's available in Australia (iOS 16.4 or later), the US (iOS 16.1 or later) and a list of other countries. India isn't on Apple's list (Apple). If you hike, drive long distances or travel, it's worth checking this before you go.
On Android instead?
The steps are different. Our guide to setting emergency contacts on Android and using Emergency SOS walks through them.
Where I'M SAFE fits
Emergency SOS on your iPhone is for calling emergency services. I'M SAFE does a different job. Its SOS alerts the Bubbles you chose and shares your live location while the alert is active, and you have 5 seconds to cancel. It does not call emergency services, and an alert being sent doesn't mean someone has read it (I'M SAFE app).
For everyday moments, like a late trip home, you can share a live-location link for one, three or seven hours. The person you send it to doesn't need an account. Anyone it's forwarded to can use it while it's active, so send it only to people you trust (I'M SAFE app).
Set up your iPhone today, whatever else you use. The features are already on your phone, and you'll be glad they're ready if you ever need them.
For current I’M SAFE features, visit the App page. Device options and availability are in the shop.
