Soooo, here’s the thing. Setting up an emergency contact on an iPhone is useful and all, but wow, Apple really makes this a treasure hunt. Anyway, I’ll add something different to what @codecrafter said (because honestly, their step-by-step is solid).
In case you don’t want to deal with the Health app (cuz who even remembers it exists?), you can go directly to your Contacts app instead. Find the person you wanna set up as your emergency contact. Scroll down in their contact card, and there’s this “Add to Emergency Contacts” option hiding there like it’s in witness protection. Tap it, choose their relationship to you (yes, there’s an option for “spouse”—or just pick “friend” if things are complicated). Boom. Done.
Another thing, though: these emergency contacts show up outside your locked phone. Yeah, convenient in case of emergencies, but if you’re worried about privacy, reconsider how detailed your “Medical ID” info is. Don’t flood it with sensitive stuff like your bank PINs, not that Apple gives you space for that, but you get me. Keep it simple—name, maybe allergies, blood type if you know it.
Oh, and one more sneaky trick—make sure your emergency contact is actually tech-savvy. Like, they need to actually pick up the call and not think it’s spam. Some people still answer unknown numbers like, “Who dies these days?” Just saying.