While I was out walking this morning, I had a thought: “What if I keel over, or get chased by wild dogs, or am hit by a car?” (Because I think about these things during my morning walks.)

“Perked up African dogs” courtesy of the World Wildlife Federation

“Even if someone found me — presumably motionless and covered in wild-dog bites, or maybe coated in gravel and twigs, but obviously still clutching my phone — they wouldn’t know whom to call.” (Because I also think in grim, over-complicated sentences.)

Then I had an inspiration: Why not create an In Case of Emergency (“ICE”) list for my phone’s lock screen?

I happen to have an iPhone, so advance apologies for the Apple-centric instructions — but I suspect the process would be similar for other phones as well.

Step 1

Start by creating a document measuring 640 X 1136 pixels. You can use any image, but I made a gradient so the time and date are legible. Here’s the template:

Step 2

Add whatever info you’d want a potential phone-finder to see. (I listed just my contact info, but you may want to add allergies, doctor, religious requests, a photo of your cat, your Nana’s meatloaf recipe, etc.)

Step 3

Save the document as a JPEG and email it to yourself. Open the email on your phone and save the JPEG to your camera roll. Then go to Settings > Wallpaper > Choose a New Wallpaper.

Step 4

Scroll to “camera roll,” and choose this image as your LOCK SCREEN image. You may have to resize it or center it a bit. Once you like the result, hit “set.”

Voilà! You’ve got your all-purpose emergency contact screen.

Easy, right? Enjoy, and good luck with the wild dogs.