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Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

seattletimes.com

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Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#31

Post by derefr »

FireBeyond wrote: post #25

Life Alert, horrendous as their ads may be, would probably be surprised to hear that it's only now that you're finding a "device which can contact emergency services in the event of an accident" so life changing. As might OnStar, etc.

As well as what the sibling commentors have pointed out, Life Alert also never bothered to partner with a company that would put their system into a piece of consumer-electronics that the average healthy (maybe even young) adult would buy for themselves. Nobody wants to wear a LifeAlert bracelet and a watch/fitness-tracker; they want their watch/fitness-tracker to just have that functionality. And so they make a choice, and end up dying in a ditch somewhere.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#32

Post by bt848 »

amiantos wrote: post #16
bt848 wrote: post #14

Apple marketing machine in action: get local press to write up as a novelty feature that main competitor has had for ages.

Please name this competitor that had fall detection ('for ages') that automatically messages emergency services for you?

Garmin. You know, the brand that is 100x more popular among bicyclists.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#33

Post by eatbitseveryday »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #6

> His watch messaged emergency medical services at 12:02 p.m., and an ambulance was there within a minute. Talk about response time, wow!

Please do not use code blocks for quotes, it creates long side-scrolling windows.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#35

Post by joshvm »

function_seven wrote: post #19
rolltiide wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to read your cousin died this way. I don't understand. The Apple Watch told him his heart isn't working right - automatically calling emergency services - and he also called his wife to let him know the watch says there is an emergency with his heart? Or was it that he too passed out, the Apple Watch called emergency services, who resuscitated him enabling him to call his wife?

I think the watch detected his fall (which was a result of the heart attack)

The specs for the watch specifically rule out heart attack detection, by the way.

> Apple Watch cannot detect heart attacks. If you ever experience chest pain, pressure, tightness, or what you think is a heart attack, call emergency services immediately.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#36

Post by FireBeyond »

Izkata wrote: post #29
FireBeyond wrote: post #25

Life Alert, horrendous as their ads may be, would probably be surprised to hear that it's only now that you're finding a "device which can contact emergency services in the event of an accident" so life changing. As might OnStar, etc.

Not really. All those other services require the person to hit a button to trigger it, which they can't do while unconscious. The Apple watch called automatically on its own.

No. All those services absolutely offer Automatic Fall Detection: https://www.theseniorlist.com/medical-alert-systems/best/fal...

And OnStar has it easier, with existing collision detection.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#37

Post by bdamm »

bsaul wrote: post #28

and soon, people will be scared to even consider going for a jog without a device like that on their wrist. The more time passes the more i realize how much the saying « the road to hell is paved with good intentions » is true.

As a younger man I took pride in not needing any technical assistance to get around in the world. Now in middle age, and with a diagnosed electrical-type heart problem, I'm pretty happy to have the gizmo help me out. This makes those rare times when I do venture out without any tech on my person particularly pleasurable; I feel like I'm getting away with something naughty and yet all I'm doing is being an unassisted human. If jogging with a health monitor is normalized, well, that's ok with me.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#39

Post by outworlder »

twiceaday wrote: post #5
mikestew wrote: post #2

Alternate headline: “Potentially Life-saving Tech Works as Advertised”. I know, I know, it’s a human interest story and the regular folks might not know this. But my first thought reading the headline was, “it better call, or I’m going to be puzzling how to get a refund in the afterlife.”

This is one seemingly tiny, new feature of the device. He might not have bought the device for this feature, or even have known that it was there. Or rather, the people reading might have not bought the device for this feature, or even have known that it was there. I think this is what makes the story popular enough to be going around.

> He might not have bought the device for this feature

The article says that it was a consideration when he bought it.

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