On the occasion of the European Day of Emergency Calls, we would like to remind you that you can store emergency contacts or emergency data in your smartphone. Many people are still unaware of this feature of their smartphone, but this data can be life-saving in medical emergencies, especially when the person is unable to provide the information they need themselves.
Apart from answering various questions when making the emergency call (Where did what happen? How many are affected?), medical information such as existing diseases, allergic reactions and medications and blood group information, but also the telephone numbers of emergency contacts such as family members or friends are important emergency data. Rescue workers and first responders can thus treat more specifically and, if necessary, reach emergency contacts faster.
Depending on the manufacturer, many smartphones have an option to share the location directly with the emergency contacts. Unlike a location triggered by an emergency call to 112, only previously stored emergency contacts receive your location data. There are various software and hardware-based options, especially in the senior smartphone market, such as extra buttons for emergencies, which we will not go into further here. In addition to system apps, there are various other apps in the Play Store and the Apple Store for the transfer of emergency data. You have to grant permissions for the apps from the Apple or Play Store, which can sometimes be a bit complicated. Especially with the many different Android devices, there are significant differences in operation.
Until 1973 there were no uniform emergency numbers in the Federal Republic of Germany. Then the new rules of the 73 emergency call system came into effect. This made the numbers 110 and 112, which had been used regionally since 1948, binding nationwide.
The decisive factor for this standardization of the emergency number was the death of eight-year-old Björn Steiger, who died in 1969 after a traffic accident because the emergency services arrived too late. The boy’s parents made it their life’s work to establish a nationwide rescue service and founded the Björn-Steiger-Foundation for this purpose.
In 1991, 112 was introduced as a single pan-European emergency number to make it easier for travelers and all EU citizens to reach emergency services. Since 1998, EU Member States have had to ensure that calls to 112 are free, and since 2003 telecom operators have had to provide emergency services with caller location information. The EU has already launched 17 procedures against countries that have not provided the emergency number or have not handled it appropriately. In some countries, 112 is the only emergency number for certain services. Since December 2008, all emergency calls in the EU can be made free of charge via 112 from landline and mobile phones.
Emergency Data on iPhone
$(LEhttps://www.heise.de/ratgeber/Gesund-wandern-6478182.html:In the Health app on the iPhone, you can store important health data in encrypted form – such as the blood group, vital medication and contacts, which automatically receive a message if something happens to you. Create the pass on the iPhone via “Settings, Health, Emergency Pass” and a tap on “Create Emergency Pass”. Health automatically adopts the name, as well as other data such as your date of birth, height and weight add.
Apple: Emergency card in the Health app
If you have allergies or previous illnesses, it may make sense to deposit medication such as blood thinners or insulin. All information is voluntary Apple stores them encrypted on the device. Monitoring of walking stability, fall detection and, in conjunction with the Apple Watch, even measurement of ECG and blood oxygen saturation are also possible. Under “Emergency Access,” the “Show when locked” option allows others to access the Emergency Passport.
Emergency data on Android smartphones
Due to the numerous Android variants adapted by smartphone manufacturers, we cannot give any general instructions. We therefore outline the settings for Android 12 below.
Open the settings of your Android smartphone and, depending on the device, tap on the “Security and emergencies” or “SOS emergency assistance” menu item. In the security settings, select “Emergency contacts”, tap on “Add contact” and select a contact from your address book. The selected person will be informed via SMS that you have saved them as an emergency contact. Typically, you can save up to three emergency contacts on Android.
The emergency settings on Android 12 look something like this
It makes sense that your emergency data should be visible without having to unlock your smartphone. If this option is not activated, you can “Allow access to emergency information”. On some Android devices, you can view the emergency data with a long press of the power button.
Access to emergency data
You can also activate “emergency quick access” in the settings so that you can reach your emergency contacts directly in an emergency by pressing the on/off button five times quickly, mostly regardless of the operating system. If you wish, your device will then send an SOS SMS with your location to the stored emergency contacts (option: “Send SMS with location automatically”). Google’s “Emergency Information” app (personal safety) for current Pixel phones and some other OEM devices with Android 13 also allows you to automatically record and send a video.
The data protection declarations of some Android smartphones indicate that, in addition to location information, usage data such as battery consumption or the current signal strength are also recorded. Furthermore, your data may be shared for “internal purposes”, such as determining how and whether the service is being used.
Emergency data record of the electronic health card
In addition to various other and also analogous options for dealing with emergency data, an emergency data record (NFD) stored on the electronic health card with or without a PIN has been a subject of lively discussion for several years, which, however, is not or only rarely viewed. Paramedics or first aiders would need the necessary technical equipment such as a mobile card reader and a tablet designed for it. In the future, it should be possible to call up the NFD from the electronic patient summary. How exactly the retrieval will work in everyday rescue is unclear.
A notice: We appreciate if you share information with us about how and if storing emergency contacts and data on your smartphone works. To do this, write the device type, the Android version and a short description in the forum of this entry. Thanks very much!
(mack)
