Day 2

The Kickstart Your Prep 5 Day Challenge

Day 2: Smartphone Smartie

Today, your mission is to ready your phone for emergencies and make it an optimized resource during a disaster, in five steps. You can do it!

Step 1: Create emergency contacts.

Add phone numbers of your emergency contacts and useful resources.

*Check to make sure these numbers work in your location.

Step 2: Fill out your medical info on your phone.

Help first responders by filling in your Medical ID on your iPhone or Medical Info on Android.

On older phones, you can create emergency contacts by adding the letters “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) to the name of your preferred contacts. First responders are trained to look for this if you’re incapacitated.

Step 3: Make sure you can text when shit hits the fan.

You might find texting easier than calling when things are moving quickly, and it’s also a civic mitzvah during local emergencies — opting for a text instead of a call can help keep cell networks from jamming, which can block important phone calls between first responders.

If you have an iPhone, make sure “Send as SMS” is turned on. (Settings > Messages > Send as SMS). This will reroute any message that can’t go through on iMessage as an SMS or MMS text to help ensure it gets to its destination.

Step 4: Install emergency apps.
  • Our top picks for general emergency and emergency shelter resources are the Red Cross apps and FEMA app.
  • A radio app like radio.net will give you access to the most immediate live updates via your local Emergency Alert Radio Station.
  • Consider a medical app like Osler Medicine Survival Guide for more detailed info.
  • You might need a survival skills app like Outdoor Survival Guide (Android) or SAS Survival Guide (iPhone). PictureThis – Plant Identifier is also great for foraging.
Step 5: Maximize your phone's battery.
  • Keep your phone charged by plugging it in whenever you’re near a charger, particularly if you’re just scrolling at home. Bonus: keeping your phone charged lengthens your battery’s life.
  • Invest in a portable phone charger and take it (and the right cable) with you whenever you can. Remember to keep it fully charged!
  • Make a habit of conserving your battery:
    1. Turn on the “Battery Saver” mode on your device.
    2. Close all unnecessary and background apps.
    3. Reduce the brightness to the minimum.
    4. Turn off Bluetooth.
    5. Turn off your data if you don’t need it (turn on “Airplane Mode”).
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You can do it!

Don’t forget: you’ll earn a FREE GIFT for completing the challenge. Keep going!