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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

#611

Post by coldtea »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #599
coldtea wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age. In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European country says: "The elderly die either fro…

Likely your Apple Watch won't be able to call for help if you're injured trekking or climbing, unless there's a cell tower on the mountain. Having personally been run over cycling, multiple passersby called 911 for me immediately, and I was in a ambulance in less than 10min.

>Likely your Apple Watch won't be able to call for help if you're injured trekking or climbing, unless there's a cell tower on the mountain.

Don't know about the US, but in several mountains I've been on around the world (not in developing countries though), signal was just fine. It might not work for Everest, or the remotest part of the Rockies, but most hikings/treks are not in such places...

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

#612

Post by brianwawok »

snuxoll wrote: post #338
brianwawok wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully it has a heart beat detector That said, the cupholder in my riding lawn mower squeezes my iPhone 8 buttons into SoS mode. The first time it called 911 and I picked it up 30 minutes to a missed call and a text. No ambulance. Next time I mowed it, it called 911 again. No call and no text. I guess I made the 911 pranker list? Yay? Hopefully I don’t need it. Wonder what makes this guy get an ambulance and me in…

Fall detection on Apple Watch doesn’t just dial emergency services like Emergency SOS does, they could hear you mowing your lawn and probably assumed you called by mistake (it happens). When fall detection activates a 60 second timer starts and the watch vibrates like mad trying to get your attention, if you do not dismiss the alert not only does it dial emergency services and text your location to registered emergen…

Ah that is good.

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

#613

Post by rconti »

WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

Agreed, but people buy safety/prep things (like guns) for phenomenally less likely scenarios.

I used to have an Apple Watch, and now have a Garmin that has similar features. Nice to know they're there, but I wouldn't buy the device just for it.

That said, if I had been the son in the story, yeah, i probably would have run out and bought my own the very next day! The power of a personal connection to a story.

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

#614

Post by rootusrootus »

azinman2 wrote: post #264
cbsks wrote: post #182

Well, crap. I have been avoiding smart watches like the plague but this plus the ECG may put me over the edge. My family has a history of heart disease, I commute by bike every day, and I have a young child who I want to see grow up. One of my friends was recently killed in a motorcycle crash. A passerby found them in the morning in some bushes near the side of the road. We don't know what time the crash occurred, or…

Check out Alivecor’s devices. I’ve used them for years.

Before the S4 Apple Watch came out, I used AliveCor. Works pretty well, though obviously not as reliably as the watch does. And to enable basic storage functionality in the app they want you to pay $5/month. Pretty quickly it costs more than just getting the watch.

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

#615

Post by Myrmornis »

invalidusernam3 wrote: post #447
Jataman606 wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a study recently that basically debunked this theory. It was done by tracking real incidents through cameras in big cities in Europe. Long story short, the more people were there the more likely that someone offers help.

A lot of countries in Europe have Duty to rescue laws ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue ): "circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party who could face potential injury or death without being rescued"

In contrast, in 2007 a man in Baghdad noticed an injured man by the side of the road, and stopped his car (containing 2 children) to help. He was immediately killed by the US military for doing so; they were watching from an Apache helicopter and shot him dead for stopping to help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstri...

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

#616

Post by okmokmz »

coldtea wrote: post #550
WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

> - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age. In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European country says: "The elderly die either fro…

>not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc)

If you're serious about hiking/climbing you should never be in a position where you would need an apple watch to save you. You should always let people know where you are going, what you are planning to do, and when you plan to be back or at least back in contact otherwise they should call a rescue team. If you're solo climbing and your apple watch is what you're relying on in case of emergency you probably have far bigger issues to worry about

That being said, it does seem like it could be useful for the elderly in some scenarios

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

#617

Post by acqq »

hn_user2 wrote: post #587
JshWright wrote: post #563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Falling, even in their own house, then remaining immobile and unable to call for help is a common cause of huge problems That's been a solved problem for years though. As your link points out, LifeAlert bracelets (and similar technologies) have had fall detection for quite some time now. The new thing that Apple (and Garmin) have brought to the table is pairing that will a cell radio. Given the other benefits of a…

My proud father would not even consider life alert even though he has fallen several times already with nobody home. Loves the Apple Watch I bought him as a gift though.

Exactly! “I’m still not in so bad shape!”

And this is the best aspect of the systems that aren’t explicitly “for sick and old.”

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

#618

Post by okmokmz »

runamok wrote: post #425
killjoywashere wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a legendary cardiologist at my medical school who predicted his own demise, took a Holter monitor home with him one night, wired himself up, went to sleep, never woke up, and left his colleagues with the 12-lead trace of his death.

I find this confusing. If he was so sure of his imminent death why not do the same thing in a hospital room where you had a chance of survival. Unless he had this sense multiple times and was finally right this time...

Reminds me of this story

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-10/he-documented-his-own...

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

#619

Post by [deleted] »

okmokmz wrote: post #616
coldtea wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age. In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European country says: "The elderly die either fro…

>not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) If you're serious about hiking/climbing you should never be in a position where you would need an apple watch to save you. You should always let people know where you are going, what you are planning to do, and when you plan to be back or at least back in contact otherwise they should call a rescue team. If you're solo climbing and your apple watch is…

[deleted]

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

#620

Post by schoen »

okmokmz wrote: post #616
coldtea wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age. In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European country says: "The elderly die either fro…

>not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) If you're serious about hiking/climbing you should never be in a position where you would need an apple watch to save you. You should always let people know where you are going, what you are planning to do, and when you plan to be back or at least back in contact otherwise they should call a rescue team. If you're solo climbing and your apple watch is…

But don't forget about the "golden hour" and the difference between being, say, lost or slightly injured and being seriously injured and in shock or unconscious.
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