Paramedic reveals the simple phone hack that could save your life: 'We need you to do this'
In an alert posted to TikTok, that has so far been viewed more than 335,000 times, the emergency responder said using the medical ID feature on an iPhone could save your life.
This smartphone service—which can be accessed by the settings or health app— involves inputting vital health information like allergies and medication you're taking.
This, according to the paramedic, is vital for medics to know when they need to provide potentially life-saving treatment at the site of an emergency.
They may be unaware of a deadly allergy to medication, or a current prescription that interacts with other drugs they need to give.
'How many times have you left the house with just your phone? We will pop to the shops, walk the dog, go to the gym, everything with just our phones,' said the NHS worker, who goes by the name of @MummyNeeNaw on TikTok.
'But it does mean that when, god forbid, something should ever happen to you and we turn up, if you're in a place where no one knows who you are, we also don't know who you are.
'If anything should happen to you, we need to know if there is anything we need to be aware of while we're helping you and treating you.
@mummyneenaw
Just a little request. It's something so many people don't know about or don't think to actually do but it could be incredibly important. It takes a few minutes of your time and could make all the difference to you and your loved ones. It's not my usual upload and I'm hoping people remember that in a world where you can be anything, always be kind. #fyp #nhs #ambulance #999 #viral #workingmom #ambulancedriver #ambulanceservice #emergency
♬ original sound - MummyNeeNaw
'It's incredibly difficult when we don't know.'
She also urged people to use the feature to input emergency contacts, who paramedics will try and contact.
'I've been to a few [emergencies] over the years, and I went to one yesterday, where a gentleman was very poorly and we didn't know anything about him,' she said in the clip. He had no ID, nothing.'
The mother-of-two said that the first thing she usually will do is check the patient's phone to see if there are any health conditions that the team need to be aware of.
She said: 'As soon as I am able to, I will get somebody's phone out and I will go straight to their emergency information.
'I don't need the pin, or your face to be able to access that emergency information and it could be potentially life changing if we know what's on that.'
Creating your medical ID takes less than two minutes, she added.
Open the health app on your phone and tap your picture in the top right corner, then medical ID. Tap 'get started' or 'edit' to enter your health information.
Leaving the house with just your phone, especially if you are in an area where people don't know who you are, could be fatal in the event of an emergency when paramedics need to know your medical history to administer potentially life-saving care
On this page you will be able to list any medications that you're currently taking, allergies and existing medical conditions, as well as your blood type—which is helpful if a blood transfusion is required.
Crucially, this information can be accessed by emergency responders even when your phone is locked.
'If this video gets someone to check their information, or get their parents information installed on their phones, it's absolutely worth it,' she added.
On an iPhone, emergency contacts—as well as the emergency services—will be automatically contacted when the SOS feature is activated.
To enable this, you can simultaneously press and hold the side button and either volume button until the sliders appear and the countdown on Emergency SOS ends, then release the buttons.
The feature is available on all models of the iPhone 14 and later and means that phones can connect directly to a satellite, alerting emergency services of your location.
Conversations with the emergency teams can also be shared with your listed emergency contacts, to keep them up to date with the situation.
This comes as new research suggests that turning off your phone's internet connection for two weeks could reverse brain ageing by up to 10 years.
In the Canadian study, researchers asked 400 participants to download an app that would disable their smartphones access to the internet, but still allow them to make calls and send texts.
Results showed that after just two weeks, participants' ability to focus on one subject was boosted so much it became equivalent to the attention span of someone 10 years younger.
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