Emergency contact card checklist: the 8 things a stranger needs to help your family

When something happens to you, the person helping is often a neighbour, a babysitter, a coworker or a paramedic who has never met you. Here's what they need to find in under a minute, in the order they need it:

1. Who to call first, and a second person if the first doesn't answer. Write the relationship too ("sister", "neighbour with a key").

2. Allergies, especially to medications and foods.

3. Current medications and doses, as the label says them.

4. Conditions a responder should know about (diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, a pacemaker).

5. Who depends on you right now: kids at school, an older parent, a pet at home alone.

6. Your doctor's name and number.

7. Insurance details, or at least where to find them.

8. Anything about communication: hearing, language, a condition that affects speech.

Two things people forget: keep it readable without unlocking anything clever, and date it, so whoever reads it knows how fresh it is. Review it whenever a medication changes.

Paper in a wallet works. On iPhone, Apple's Medical ID covers some of this on the lock screen. We built the free Emergency Card in Family Ready for the rest: it opens offline in a large-text Emergency Mode with no ads or prompts, and it never needs a subscription. You can make one for a child, a parent or someone you care for, with their permission.

What would you add to this list?