You can change the emergency number from 911 to something else, like on a Pixel, and text your location to emergency contacts. Another option may require you to swipe the call button after pressing the side button five times before calling 911.
Send an SOS on an iPhone
As with Android, the five-press routine also works on iPhones.
Go to Institutions | Emergency SOS and make sure the Call with 5 button presses switch is on, which means it is showing green instead of gray. If so, these five quick presses will initiate an alarm and countdown, after which local emergency services will be called.
You have approximately 8 seconds to interrupt the conversation if you or a child does so accidentally or otherwise. To assist emergency responders, the call may include your location even if you haven’t enabled your location in Location Settings, Apple says.
If you have the Call with hold and release button InstitutionsIf you press and hold the side button and either volume button, an alarm will sound and the countdown will begin. The iPhone will call emergency services after the countdown ends, as soon as you release the buttons and then slide SOS emergency call button that appears on the screen.
Tap the X in a circle ⨂ to cancel or reschedule Medical ID card button to view your emergency contacts, plus additional information about your height, weight, blood type and any medical conditions you have, which you would have previously set up in the Health app on the phone.
Inside Emergency SOS in Institutions , You can also tap a ‘Silent Call’ button to turn off notification alarms, flashes, and VoiceOver audio.
Bonus tip: record the emergency on a Pixel
If you have a Google Pixel, you can record continuous video of an emergency for up to 45 minutes. Crane Safety and emergency | Emergency SOS | Record emergency video. Such videos are automatically backed up to your Google Account and the Personal Safety app on the phone.
Your emergency contacts will automatically receive a link to the video. After recording stops, you have 15 seconds to cancel sharing.
Only one share link per video can be active at any given time, Google says. And each link has a seven-day expiration date to protect your privacy.
In the Help settings on the Pixel, Google warns people to be careful when sharing videos: “Recordings of emergency events may be disturbing to your emergency contacts and may put those people in distress.”