Wearing an Apple Watch was a smart decision for a California man, according to reports, as it helped him make immediate emergency calls after a fatal injury. Los Angeles Hermosa Beach police confirmed that the feature was used to arrive at the accident scene in the middle of the night. According to information disclosed by local police, they found the injured man based on a 911 call from the Apple Watch.
When the watch detects a sudden fall from the wearer, a 60-second countdown begins. If the wearer is healthy, the countdown can be manually stopped to avoid accidental emergency calls. But if an injury does occur, the Apple Watch will automatically call 911 to notify emergency personnel. The automated system also shares the coordinates of where the fall occurred for quick location.
The accident happened at 1 a.m. when a man on an electric bike was involved in an accident and rolled over. After police responded to an automated call from the Apple Watch, the cyclist was found unconscious on the road, bleeding from his head and ended up in hospital for weeks.
Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 and later are equipped with fall detection. Last fall, Apple updated the smartwatch’s software to add an automatic fall feature during exercise sessions such as cycling. This optimization is based on the recognition of specific movements and the impact of falling during cycling and other activities. The watchOS 8 updates will also allow users to enable fall detection only during workouts.
There should be many people who buy the Apple Watch without considering the benefits of fall detection. Like atrial fibrillation detection and hypoglycemia detection, these are features we wish we never used.
But the usual functions ensure that we wear this watch. You might love the Apple Watch’s notifications or its personalized watch face, and it’s a big plus if you can provide such health and safety features when you really need them.
Fainting on the road three times in the middle of the night is a very scary thing. If it weren’t for the help of the Apple Watch, the consequences of this would be really unimaginable.