By making a small change to your mobile phone you can get help during an emergency.
It's important to make sure your emergency contacts are easily accessible in an emergency if you're unable to communicate with them. Available on both iPhones and Androids, users can create several shortcuts to contact the emergency services or friends and family members.
This includes a quick way of calling 999 or your emergency contacts and how to share your location and health information. In this guide, we detail how to set this up on your iPhone or Android device.
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Apple iPhones
iPhones have an 'SOS emergency call' function which can be used as a shortcut for the emergency services. On iPhones 8 or later press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.
Drag the Emergency Call slider to call the emergency services. On an iPhone 7 or earlier press the side (or top) button five times rapidly. The Emergency Call slider will appear then drag the Emergency SOS slider to call the emergency services.
You can also add 'emergency contacts' which after an emergency call has ended, your iPhone will alert your emergency contacts with a text message, unless you choose to cancel this option. Your iPhone will send your current location, and for a period of time after you've entered SOS mode, your emergency contacts will receive updates when your location changes.
You can add emergency contacts by opening the Health app and tapping your profile picture. Tap Medical ID then tap Edit, then scroll to Emergency Contacts.
Tap the Add button to add an emergency contact. Tap a contact, then add their relationship, then click Done to save your changes.
Android phones including Samsung
If you're in an emergency situation, you can use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, alerting your contacts of your location and recording video.
To set this up, go on your phone, open the Setting apps, tap safety and emergency, then Emergency SOS and turn on use Emergency SOS.
Decide which emergency actions should be triggered when you use Emergency SOS. Turn on the actions that you want to use. This can be call emergency services, share info with emergency contacts and record emergency video.
If you're in an emergency situation, you can then use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, alerting your contacts of your location and recording video. On your phone, press the Power button five times or more. A five-second countdown begins before emergency actions are started.
To cancel Emergency SOS, swipe Cancel to the right during the countdown. After the five-second countdown, emergency actions are started depending on your settings.
You can also use the Personal Safety app to save and share your emergency info. You can add personal emergency info to your phone's lock screen, like your blood type, allergies and medications. On your phone, open the Safety app. Sign in to your Google Account and tap Settings.
Add your emergency info including medical information and emergency contacts. To show your emergency info when your screen is locked, tap Show when device is locked to Show when locked.
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