How to send an emergency text on iphone

Modern smartphones put in a surprising amount of work to make sure that you can always call emergency services, no matter the situation.

For example: If you own an iPhone, you have access to the Emergency SOS feature, which can automatically call local emergency services, even if you're not able to move.

Here's how Emergency SOS works, how to use it, and how to make it easier to access.

How to use Emergency SOS on your iPhone

When activated, the Emergency SOS feature immediately calls local emergency services (usually 911 if you're in the US). You don't need to have a SIM card in your iPhone, and in most cases, you don't even need to have a cell signal.

The easiest way to activate Emergency SOS is to hold down your iPhone's Lock button and one of the Volume buttons. After a moment, three sliders will appear — swipe your finger to the right across the Emergency Call slider to make a call.

Important: If you're using an iPhone 7 or older, you can instead find these sliders by quickly pressing the Lock button five times.

If you have an iPhone 8 or newer, there are two other ways to activate Emergency SOS. But before you can use them, you'll need to enable them.

Open the Settings app and scroll down to tap Emergency SOS. Here you can toggle on Call with Hold and Call with 5 Presses.

• Call with Hold lets you activate Emergency SOS by holding down the Lock and Volume buttons. When you do this, the sliders will appear like before, but you can just keep holding the buttons to call emergency services.
• Call with 5 Presses lets you activate Emergency SOS by quickly pressing the Lock button five times.

If you use either of these two extra Emergency SOS triggers, your iPhone will ring and flash for a few seconds before making the call to let you know it's happening. If you activated it by mistake, you can use these few seconds to cancel the call.

The iPhone 14 has two extra Emergency SOS features

The iPhone 14 series (including the iPhone 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max) adds two new ways to use Emergency SOS.

The first is Crash Detection. If your iPhone detects that you've been in a car crash — you come to a sudden stop, there's a loud sound, the air pressure changes — it'll offer to activate Emergency SOS. If you don't or can't respond, it'll automatically make the call.

The second is Emergency SOS via Satellite. Later this year, Apple is launching a system that lets iPhone 14 owners contact emergency responders even when they're completely out of cell signal range. This system works by connecting you to satellites above the Earth, which will then relay your messages and location to responders back on Earth.

The Emergency SOS via Satellite system will be free for two years. Apple hasn't announced how much it will cost after that.

Emergency SOS can text your emergency contacts

Emergency SOS calls go to whatever the local emergency service phone number is — usually 911 if you're living in the US. But you can set Emergency SOS to notify any of your friends and family members when you contact emergency services.

To add an emergency contact, open the Health app and tap your profile picture in the top-right corner. Select Medical ID, then Edit in the top-right corner, and then scroll down to select Add emergency contact.

When you activate Emergency SOS and contact emergency services, your iPhone will send a text message to every emergency contact to alert them. The text will also include your current location.

An iPhone feature has the potential to save your life in case of Emergency. However, you need to know how to make it live.

Apple iPhones have a number of very useful features and some can even save your life in case of an emergency. An in-built iPhone feature that can do so is called Emergency SOS. This iPhone feature can instantly and simply call for assistance and inform your emergency contacts about your whereabouts. When you dial SOS, your iPhone contacts the local emergency number automatically. However, you may need to select the type of service you require in case of an emergency, such as police, fire department, or ambulance.

Also, you will need to include emergency contact information well before that. Your iPhone sends a text message to your emergency contacts once. The iPhone sends your current location, and your emergency contacts will receive updates when your location changes for a period of time after you enter SOS mode. This emergency SOS feature works on iPhone 8 or later versions.

To start, you will need to add emergency contacts in your iPhone. For that follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Health app on your device.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘Medical ID' and click on edit. Also, if you haven't created your medical ID, you will need to do that first.

Step 3: You will find the ‘Add emergency contacts' option. Tap on it and add people whom you want to share about your emergency situation. And it, done.

Now, in case you will be stuck in an emergency, your iPhone will give an alert to all your emergency contacts about you. Wondering how to use the feature in case of emergency? Read here.

Step 1: In case of emergency, you will need to press and hold the power button along with either one of the volume buttons, which will give you an “Emergency SOS” countdown option.

Step 2: You will need to keep holding both buttons until the countdown ends on the screen.

Step 3: Once the countdown ends, your iPhone will automatically call 911. The phone will automatically text your emergency contacts with your current location as soon as the call is disconnected.

Step 4: Though, users who are having iPhone 7 or older versions, will need to press the power button five times and will need to drag your finger across the Emergency SOS slider. And the rest of the process will be the same.

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First Published Date: 07 Jan, 13:10 IST

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(Pocket-lint) - There are so many software features built into iPhone, some are easy enough to find, others are a little more hidden but they are not only very useful, but good for safety too. 

When setup, Emergency SOS on iPhone doesn't just give you a quick option to call emergency services if you're in trouble, but it will also automatically alert your emergency contacts to your location. 

There are a couple of different options for setting up and activating Emergency SOS on iPhone. We've run through them all below to help you make sure your iPhone is ready to help you as much as possible if you ever feel unsafe or need to contact emergency services.

Press the side/home button quickly five times 

One of the features within the Emergency SOS settings on iPhone is the ability to quickly press the side button or home button on your device five times in succession to call emergency services. 

To set this up: Open Settings > Emergency SOS > Toggle on Call with Side Button. 

When you press the side button or home button five times, a loud siren will sound and a countdown from three will begin. You can turn the countdown sound off though. To turn it off: Open Settings > Emergency SOS > Toggle off Countdown Sound.

Press and hold the side/home button and volume up or down

Pressing and holding the side button or home button on your iPhone and either the volume up or volume down will bring up another screen on iPhone. 

The options on this screen are Slide to Power Off, slide for Medical ID and slide for Emergency SOS. 

If you slide the Emergency SOS section, this too will call emergency services, though it would be a little harder to do if you were in trouble compared to pressing the side or home button five times so it's worth toggling on that feature as above. Toggling it on doesn't disable the ability to also use the slide option mentioned in this section. 

How to set up and edit emergency contacts on iPhone

It's possible to add emergency contacts in Apple's Health app. These will be sent a message with your last known location when you use Emergency SOS to you call emergency services. 

To set up emergency contacts: Open Settings > Emergency SOS > Edit Emergency Contacts in Health. This will then launch the Health app where you follow steps 4-9 below. 

Alternatively, you can:

1. Open the Health app
2. Tap on your profile in the top right corner
3. Tap on Medical ID
4. Press on 'Edit' in the top right corner
5. Tap on 'Add Emergency Contact'
6. Choose the contact
7. Choose the number if they have more than one
8. Select their relationship to you
9. Tap 'Done' in the top right corner

If you open Settings > Emergency SOS, you'll see the list of emergency contacts that will be sent a message and your location.

How to set up your Medical ID on iPhone

It's worth setting up your Medical ID on iPhone at the same time as setting up Emergency SOS and contacts. 

It's possible to set it to allow anyone to access your Medical ID from your iPhone Lock Screen if you're in an accident, for example, and the doctors need to know if you have any allergies or any pre-existing medical conditions. 

Open the Health app > Tap on your profile in the top right corner > Tap on Medical ID > Tap on Edit in the top right corner > Fill in any conditions and make any notes > Toggle on Show When Locked > tap 'Done'. 

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Your Medical ID will then be available even when your iPhone is locked. 

• Apple iPhone tips and tricks

Writing by Britta O'Boyle.