What you need to know
- Apple Watch fall detection helped a San Francisco biker.
- He’d been hit by a car.
- His Apple Watch alerted paramedics.
He fared better than his bike.
Apple Watch fall detection is a feature that is designed to help people who take a fall and aren’t able to summon help by themselves. It’s particularly useful for the elderly who live alone, but it can also come in handy if you’re a biker hit by a car. As Willian Bout found out (via 9to5Mac).
Got hit by a car this morning on way to work. I don’t have a lot of memories from the event but Apple Watch automatically called 911 (I was unconscious) and paramedics were within minutes. Technology truly feels amazing sometimes.
— William Bout (@williambout) January 10, 2020
That’s surely not what Apple had in mind when fall detection was designed, but we’re glad to see it helping out when needed. Unfortunately, Bout’s bike didn’t hold up to the incident too well, though.
@VanMoof Can we do something about that? pic.twitter.com/2qZpXgwtlB
— William Bout (@williambout) January 10, 2020
Fall detection works by automatically calling emergency services when a sudden fall is detected and an alert isn’t dismissed within 60 seconds. If that’s the case the watch assumes the wearer is incapacitated and calls for help. As Bout was unconscious, that’s exactly what happened in this case.
Source of the article – iMore