What should be on an emergency card for an elderly parent?
The details a paramedic or ER nurse asks for first: her full legal name, date of birth, allergies, current medications, her doctor, two emergency contacts and her insurance. Add anything else they must know, like where her advance directive is kept. Hammock365's emergency card holds all of it, free, on her phone and on yours.
Updated September 13, 2026
What to put on it
| Detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Full legal name and date of birth | How the hospital finds her records |
| Allergies | Especially to medications |
| Current medications | What she takes and how much |
| Blood type | If you know it |
| Her doctor, with a phone number | The person who knows her history |
| Two emergency contacts | Name, relationship and phone for each |
| Insurance company and policy number | Speeds up the paperwork |
| Special instructions | Anything else: where her advance directive is kept, a hearing aid, a pet at home |
Setting it up in Hammock365
- 1Tap the red heart at the top of your home screen.
- 2Fill in her legal name, date of birth and allergies. Her medications come over from her medication list by themselves.
- 3Add her doctor, two emergency contacts and her insurance.
- 4Save. It is on her phone too, one tap from her menu under My emergency card.
On the paid plan, the document vault holds the papers themselves: power of attorney, insurance cards and the advance directive.
Keep a paper copy too
A phone can be locked, dead or left behind. Write the same details on a card for her wallet or the refrigerator, and update both when a medicine changes.
Some towns give out free kits for this. The Vial of Life keeps a medical form in a plastic vial in the refrigerator, with a magnet on the door so responders know to look. La Porte, Texas EMS is one place that offers it. The File of Life is a red magnetic packet that hangs on the front of the refrigerator. Montgomery County, Maryland Fire and Rescue gives them free to residents. Ask her local fire department or senior center whether they offer either one. Either way, keep her list of medications and emergency contacts where paramedics can find it.
The honest limit
The card only helps if it is current and someone can open her phone. It does not call anyone. Hammock365 is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.
Try Hammock365 free.
The daily check-in, the missed check-in text and the emergency card are free forever. No card, no trial clock.