Over the summer, my friend asked if there was an easy way to display medical information on their phone in case of an emergency, and I was able to show them a cool function in Android that allows users to do exactly that, and with the new update to Android 10, it’s now easier than ever to show emergency information in Android or call emergency contacts without having to unlock your phone or press a bunch of buttons. Today, I will be sharing how to write emergency medical information for Android 10 and how to activate it.
Why should I add medical information to my phone?
I decided to add emergency medical information to Android because I have a chronic illness, specifically Chiari Malformation. In the event that I get hurt or sick, it’s helpful for emergency personnel to have a basic summary of my condition so that they know how to treat me. Also, since I am allergic to a fairly common medication, I want to make sure that information is known in case someone tries to give it to me.
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How to add medical info to Android phone
To add medical information to Android phones:
- Go to the settings menu
- Select the “about phone” section
- Select “Emergency information”
- Fill out fields as needed
Fields that can be filled out
The following fields can be filled out for Android emergency information and are all text fields unless otherwise noted:
- Blood type (selected from a list)
- Allergies
- Medications
- Address
- Medical notes
- Emergency contact/contacts (selected from contact list)
A funny story on requesting information
I was helping somebody set up their medical emergency profile on Android when I realized that I hadn’t added my blood type to my profile. Thinking this would be a good thing to know, I emailed my mom a message with the subject being “Blood” and the question “what is my blood type?” At the time, I had not realized how this email could be interpreted as alarming, so I got a very concerned phone call about 45 seconds later.
Moral of the story- it’s good to request information before you need it, but give some context first and assure whoever you are asking that you’re okay.
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A note on the address field for college students
I include both my dorm address and my home address for the address field and have each address labeled accordingly. For the dorm address, I included my room number, building name, college name, and the city/state/zip code. The address field is a text field that does not require any specific formatting, so this was not difficult to do.
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My medical note
My medical note is very short, since I did not want to have someone be scrolling forever trying to figure out what information is important. Mine reads more like a bulleted list, and I’ve copied the exact note below since there’s no information I haven’t mentioned on my blog before:
“Diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, low vision/legally blind and uses a blindness cane with tinted glasses, history of photosensitive migraines, balance issues, turn off lights/sirens when getting in/out of ambulance.”
Adding emergency contacts
It appears that an unlimited number of emergency contacts can be chosen to be listed underneath the medical information field, though I decided to stick with three phone numbers that can be used to reach my family. They are displayed in order of when they were selected in the contacts list, not alphabetically. Mobile/home/work numbers are considered separate entries, so the cell phone number and home number for my mom are considered two separate contacts.
Is it just for Android 10?
Users have been able to add emergency medical information to their phones since Android Nougat (version 7.0). However, the ability to display medical information without the phone unlocked is a new feature in Android 10, which is available for Pixel and Samsung devices as of publishing time. For users that do not have Android 10, medical information can only be displayed by accessing the emergency section on the phone’s lockscreen.
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How to display medical/emergency information without unlocking phone
In order to see medical information on the phone without unlocking it, follow these instructions:
- Swipe up to show the number/pin unlock screen
- Tap the line that says “emergency”
- Tap the word “emergency” on top of the emergency dialer
- Tap it again when it turns red and says “emergency information”
- Medical information is now displayed
- To exit, tap any button on the bottom of the screen. The phone cannot be unlocked this way, and calling an emergency contact will not unlock the phone
How to display medical information with unlocked phone
To display medical information with an unlocked phone in Android 10 only:
- Hold down the power key
- Select the “emergency” option
- Tap the word “emergency” on top of the emergency dialer
- Tap it again when it turns red and says “emergency information”
- Medical information is now displayed
- To exit, tap any button on the bottom of the screen. The phone will remain unlocked
When this would be helpful
I’ve used my Android to display information when I was having medical issues a few times, and so have my friends:
- When I had appendicitis and needed to quickly display my medicine allergies for paramedics
- Another time when I had an intense migraine and wanted to show that this was not abnormal for me
- Not me, but a friend used this after they were in a car accident and showed it to emergency personnel so they could easily copy information
- Another friend passed out and someone was able to pull up their emergency contact without unlocking the phone
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Final thoughts
Since I always have my phone with me, it only seemed natural to add information that could help ensure that I get important medical care in the event of an emergency. I tell all of my friends with chronic illnesses and Androids to include this information, especially those that do not wear medical bracelets. While I hope that I don’t have to pull up this information often, I am definitely glad that it is there and ready to go if I need it.
