Remember How to Call Emergency Services on Your IPhone
The start of the new year is a great time to quickly get a feel for your iPhone’s settings and make sure you’ve customized its Emergency SOS feature to your liking. Heck, you really should take a few minutes and remember – really remember – how this feature works. I hope you never need it in 2020, but you’ll be glad you took some time to learn how it works if you ever need it.
Make sure you have the latest version of iOS installed.
First, Emergency SOS only works if you’re using iOS 11 or newer. While most of you are probably using iOS 12 or iOS 13, those clinging to older iPhones may want to rethink their “I don’t want to install a new version of iOS” mindset. At least, this is what I often encounter when friends have devices that are several years old. And since iOS 11 has been running on devices since the 2013 iPhone 5S, chances are good that your device will at least be able to use this version of Apple’s operating system.
Better yet, try upgrading to iOS 12 if you can, which will ensure your location is also sent to your local 911 center if or when you use Emergency SOS.
Learn the basics of Emergency SOS
If you have an iPhone 8 (or newer), you activate Emergency SOS by holding the iPhone side button and one of the volume buttons . You can then call emergency services by clicking the slider that appears, or by holding these two buttons to start the countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, your device will automatically call emergency services.
If you have an older iPhone (iPhone 7 or earlier), you need to quickly press the top or side iPhone button five times and then drag the slider to call emergency services. Alas, you don’t have a countdown function.
Change the Emergency SOS settings to customize how you call for help.
Open the iPhone Settings app, scroll down a bit and tap Emergency SOS. If you’re using an iPhone 8 (or newer), you can use the Call with Side Button setting to enable a modified version of the aforementioned shortcut, which allows you to press the side button five times to start the emergency process. … (Holding the side button and one of your device’s volume buttons will work regardless of whether this setting is enabled.)
I also recommend to let the phone “Avtovyzov” – countdown that appears when you hold the side button and the volume button on the iPhone 8 or later. If you’re worried about it accidentally triggering, or prefer a last physical check before your device calls 911, you can turn it off.
At the very least, you should make sure you set up an emergency contact on your device (via Health> Medical ID in the Settings app). After you end the call using the emergency function, your device will automatically inform the emergency contact of your location and continue to update them with your location for a specified period of time. You can undo the first text if you didn’t want to call emergency services, but I think this feature is an incredibly powerful tool for when you need help and need to tell someone where you are, but not want it obvious.
While you are there, take your time and renew your medical passport. By entering at least your blood type, in addition to any medical condition or allergy you may have, you will provide the first responders with valuable information (which they can easily access through your iPhone’s emergency screen). While you have the option to turn off the display of this information on a locked device, I do not recommend it, given its usefulness in an emergency.