Apple Watch and iPhone will soon share your health data with first responders

By Oliver Haslam
published

Resetting Apple Watch
Resetting Apple Watch (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple Watch and iPhone can already store data about our health.
  • They will soon be able to share that data with first responders automatically.
  • It's a feature coming in iOS 13.5 and watchOS 6.2.5.

Apple Watch and iPhone will soon be able to automatically share our health data with first responders during an emergency call, according to a report. Both devices can already store our health data and make emergency calls on our behalf, but this change will bring the two features together.

The change will come as part of iOS 13.5 and watchOS 6.2.5 according to a 9to5Mac report. It notes that users will be able to populate their Medical ID and then have that information provided to first responders to save them from asking for it.

Apple Watches on white background

Apple Watches on white background (Image credit: Apple)

Both Apple Watch and iPhone already feature Medical ID, a place where users can input their allergies, blood type, medication, and more. They can also already initiate emergency calls when required. This new feature would simply have Medical ID transmit data to first responders in the case of an emergency if users configure it to.

The feature is currently available to those testing the iOS 13.5 and watchOS 6.2.5 betas and will reportedly be made available to the public as an update "later this month".

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.