Guide

What to put on an emergency information card

Updated · 4 min read · By the HuddleCare team

In an emergency, the person standing next to the one you care for might not be you. It might be a neighbor, a sitter, a substitute aide or a paramedic who has never met them. What they need in that moment is not the whole care binder. It is one page with the critical facts, in the order they will look for them.

That page is an emergency information card. Here is what to put on it, what to leave off, and where to keep it.

Why one page matters

Long documents fail under stress. A good emergency card can be read in under a minute and answers the questions a helper or a first responder asks first: Who is this? Who do I call? What are they allergic to? What medicines do they take? Everything else can wait for the people who know them.

The checklist

Who they are

  • Full name, and the name they answer to if it is different.
  • Date of birth.
  • The language they are most comfortable in.
  • A recent photo, if the card may be used by someone who has not met them.

Who to call

  • Two or three emergency contacts, each with their relationship and a phone number that is answered day and night.
  • Which contact can make decisions, if someone has that legal authority.

Allergies

  • Medicine, food and other allergies (latex, insect stings), with the severe ones clearly marked.
  • If there are none, write "No known allergies" rather than leaving it blank.

Health conditions

  • Conditions a responder should know about, in plain words, as the person or their doctor describes them.
  • Anything that affects how to communicate or help: hearing or vision loss, memory problems, a pacemaker or other device, mobility aids.

Medicines

  • The current medicine list, or a note saying exactly where to find it. A card with an out-of-date list is worse than a card that points to the current one. The medication log guide covers how to keep the list current.

Doctors, pharmacy and insurance

  • The main doctor and any specialist who manages an important condition, with phone numbers.
  • The pharmacy.
  • The insurance plan name. Think about who will see the card before adding member numbers.

Where important papers are kept

  • Where to find documents such as an advance directive, medical orders for emergency care, or a power of attorney. Write where they are kept, not what they say.

For a child

  • School or daycare, the pediatrician, and the people allowed to pick them up.

What to leave off

  • Bank details, passwords and full ID numbers. A card is meant to be read by strangers.
  • Long medical history. Keep it to what changes what a helper does in the next hour.
  • Anything you would not want a stranger to read if the card is lost.

Where to keep it

  • On the fridge or inside the front door, where responders and helpers often look.
  • In a wallet or bag, folded to fit, for the person who goes out on their own.
  • In each caregiver's phone, as a photo or a shared link.
  • On the person's own phone. Both iPhone (Medical ID in the Health app) and Android (emergency information) can show key facts from the lock screen.

Keep it current

Put the date on the card. Review it after every hospital stay, every new diagnosis and every medicine change, and at least every few months. Replace every copy when you update it, so an old one is not the one someone finds.

Keeping the card in HuddleCare

Every huddle in HuddleCare has an Emergency Info Card: emergency contacts you can tap to call, allergies with the severe ones flagged, conditions, the doctor, insurance, and where the directive is kept. In the app it always shows the huddle's current information.

  • Share it by link with an aide, a sitter or a neighbor. No account is needed to view it, and you can turn the link off at any time. The link shows the card as it was when you last shared it, so share it again after a change.
  • Export it to PDF for the fridge or a wallet, free on every plan.
  • For a dog or cat, the Care Card does the same job for sitters, walkers and boarding.

See how HuddleCare works for an aging parent, or read the guide to family care coordination.

Questions families ask

What should be on an emergency card for an elderly parent?

Their name and date of birth, two or three emergency contacts, allergies with severe ones marked, important health conditions, the current medicine list or where to find it, their doctor and pharmacy, and where documents such as an advance directive are kept.

Should a child have an emergency information card?

Yes, especially when sitters, grandparents or other families look after them. Add the school, the pediatrician, allergies and the people allowed to pick them up.

Where should I keep an emergency information card?

Keep one on the fridge or inside the front door, one in the person's wallet or bag, and one on each caregiver's phone. Turning on the emergency information feature on the person's own phone adds key facts to the lock screen.

How often should an emergency information card be updated?

After every hospital stay, new diagnosis or medicine change, and at least every few months. Date the card and replace every copy when it changes.