Medical ID: what to include, and why it matters in an emergency

If you collapse, or you’re too unwell to talk, the people around you know almost nothing about your health. A Medical ID is the short answer you leave for them.

What to include

Keep it short. A helper has seconds, not minutes.

• Name, and your date of birth or age.
• Blood group, if you know it.
• Allergies, as a doctor has told you, including medicines.
• Long-term conditions, such as diabetes or a heart condition, in plain words.
• Your doctor’s name and phone number.
• Two people to call, with their phone numbers, and how they’re related to you.
• Where your medicine list is kept.

Only write what you’re sure of. A wrong allergy or blood group is worse than a blank, so leave a line empty if you don’t know.

Where to keep it

A Medical ID helps only if someone can find it. Use more than one place:

• In your wallet, on a folded card. You can print a free Emergency Medical ID card.
• On your phone’s lock screen. Android phones have their own emergency information that can be shown without unlocking. Set it up in your phone’s settings, often under Safety and emergency; the name varies by phone.
• With your family, who should know where it is.

Keep it current. Update the card whenever a medicine, a doctor or a phone number changes.

What it doesn’t replace

A Medical ID is a note, not treatment. In an emergency, call 112.

In Kinsu

Kinsu’s SOS screen has a Medical ID with your name, blood group and health goals, and a list of your emergency contacts. SOS opens your phone’s dialler with 112 ready; you press call. Kinsu doesn’t message anyone or share your location, and the Medical ID is inside the app, which opens only with your fingerprint, face or screen lock. It has no allergies field yet. That’s why the wallet card and your phone’s own emergency information still matter.