How to Set Up Emergency SOS and Safety Features on Your Phone

Published 2026-10-16 · Marion Phone Repair

Your phone has built-in safety features that can call emergency services, alert your emergency contacts, and share your location — but most people never set them up until they need them. Taking five minutes to configure Emergency SOS, your Medical ID, and emergency contacts means your phone is ready to help in a crisis, whether you are the one in danger or someone finds your phone and needs to reach your emergency contact.

Emergency SOS on iPhone

How it works

Emergency SOS on iPhone calls your local emergency number (911 in the US) and optionally sends a text message with your current location to your emergency contacts. On iPhone 14 and later, Emergency SOS via satellite can contact emergency services even when you have no cellular or Wi-Fi signal.

Set it up

1. Go to Settings, Emergency SOS
2. Call with Hold and Release: When enabled, holding the side button and either volume button for several seconds starts a countdown, then calls emergency services automatically. On iPhone 8 and later, you can also rapidly press the side button 5 times to trigger Emergency SOS
3. Call After Severe Crash: On iPhone 14 and later, the phone can detect a severe car crash using its accelerometer and gyroscope. If it detects a crash and you do not respond to the on-screen prompt within 20 seconds, it automatically calls emergency services and sends your location to your emergency contacts. Toggle this on
4. Call Quietly: When enabled, the phone calls emergency services without the loud countdown alarm and flashing screen. Useful if you are in a situation where drawing attention to the call could be dangerous

Add emergency contacts

1. Open the Health app
2. Tap your profile picture or the Summary tab, then Medical ID
3. Tap Edit
4. Scroll to Emergency Contacts and tap the green plus icon to add people from your contacts list
5. Choose their relationship (spouse, parent, sibling, friend, etc.)
6. These contacts receive a text message with your location when you trigger Emergency SOS
7. Tap Done to save

Set up Medical ID

Medical ID displays critical health information on the lock screen without needing to unlock the phone. First responders and medical personnel can access it to learn your medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type, and emergency contacts:

1. Open the Health app, tap your profile, Medical ID, Edit
2. Fill in: Medical conditions (diabetes, heart conditions, epilepsy, etc.), Allergies and Reactions, Medications, Blood Type, Weight, Height, and any other relevant information
3. Toggle on Show When Locked — this is critical. Without this toggle, the Medical ID is only accessible after unlocking the phone, which defeats its purpose in an emergency
4. Tap Done

To access Medical ID on a locked iPhone: press and hold the side button and volume button to bring up the Emergency SOS slider, then tap Medical ID at the bottom of the screen.

Emergency SOS on Android

How it works

Android's Emergency SOS varies slightly by manufacturer, but the core function is the same: rapidly pressing the power button triggers a call to emergency services and can send alerts to your emergency contacts.

Set it up on Samsung

1. Go to Settings, Safety and emergency
2. Tap Emergency SOS
3. Enable the feature. Choose what happens when you press the power button rapidly (typically 5 times): call emergency services, send SOS messages with location, or both
4. Tap Emergency contacts and add the people you want to be notified
5. You can also attach pictures (the phone automatically takes photos using the front and rear cameras when SOS is triggered) and audio recordings to the emergency message

Set it up on Google Pixel

1. Go to Settings, Safety and emergency
2. Tap Emergency SOS
3. Enable Use Emergency SOS. The Pixel triggers Emergency SOS when you press the power button rapidly 5 times
4. Configure actions: Play alarm sound, Share information with emergency contacts, Record emergency video
5. Add emergency contacts under Settings, Safety and emergency, Emergency contacts

Set it up on other Android phones

Most Android phones running Android 12 or later have Emergency SOS in Settings under Safety and emergency or Safety. The setup is similar: enable the power button trigger, add emergency contacts, and choose what information to share. If you cannot find it, search for Emergency in the Settings search bar.

Emergency information on Android lock screen

Android displays emergency information on the lock screen, similar to iPhone's Medical ID:

1. Go to Settings, Safety and emergency, Medical information (or Emergency information on older versions)
2. Enter your name, address, blood type, allergies, medications, medical conditions, and organ donor status
3. Add emergency contacts
4. This information is accessible from the lock screen by tapping Emergency, then Emergency information (the exact path varies by manufacturer and Android version)

Crash detection

Modern phones can detect severe car crashes and automatically call for help:

• iPhone 14 and later: Built into the phone hardware. Enabled in Settings, Emergency SOS, Call After Severe Crash. Uses the accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, GPS, and microphone to detect crash patterns
• Google Pixel 4a and later: Car crash detection in the Personal Safety app. Open Personal Safety, tap Settings, Car crash detection, and enable it. The phone must be in a car (detected via Bluetooth connection to car audio, driving speed via GPS, or manual toggle)
• Samsung: Samsung does not have built-in crash detection on most models, but you can use Google's Personal Safety app if available for your model, or third-party apps

When a crash is detected, the phone displays a loud alert asking if you are okay. If you do not respond within the countdown (typically 10 to 20 seconds), it calls emergency services and shares your location.

Emergency SOS via satellite (iPhone 14 and later)

If you are in an area with no cellular service and no Wi-Fi, iPhone 14 and later can connect to satellites to send emergency messages:

1. The phone automatically offers satellite connection when you try to call 911 with no cellular signal
2. You answer a series of questions about your emergency (the satellite connection is too slow for voice calls, so communication is text-based)
3. The phone shows you where to point it to connect to a satellite overhead. You need a clear view of the sky — the connection does not work indoors or under heavy tree cover
4. Your location and emergency details are relayed to emergency dispatchers
5. No additional subscription is required — the satellite SOS service is included with the phone

Share your location in real time

Both platforms let you share your live location with trusted contacts as a safety measure:

• iPhone: Find My app lets you share your location with family and friends continuously. Open Find My, tap People, Share My Location, and select contacts. They can see your location in real time on their own devices
• Android: Google Maps lets you share your real-time location. Open Google Maps, tap your profile picture, Location sharing, Share location, and choose contacts and duration
• Both platforms: Many messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage) support live location sharing for a set duration — useful for sharing your location during a trip, a late-night walk, or when meeting someone for the first time

Test your setup

After configuring everything, test that it works without actually calling emergency services:

• Check that your emergency contacts are correct by viewing your Medical ID or emergency information from the lock screen
• Ask your emergency contacts if they are comfortable receiving alerts and understand what it means when they get one
• Do not test by triggering actual Emergency SOS — calling 911 for a test ties up real emergency resources. Instead, verify the settings visually and confirm your emergency contacts have your correct phone number

Emergency SOS setup help in Marion

If you want help setting up Emergency SOS, Medical ID, emergency contacts, crash detection, and location sharing on your phone, Marion Phone Repair can configure all your safety features, walk you through how to trigger them, and make sure everything is set up correctly.