Recently, the Chandler Police Department in Arizona received a 911 emergency call with an automated message from an Apple Watch. The person who was wearing the device had suffered a fall and was not responsive.
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According to Apple, if you own a series 4 Apple watch or newer the device is capable of detecting when its user suffers a hard fall, it will then display alerts, sound an alarm and even tap the person on the wrist in hopes of eliciting a response. If the person remains unresponsive for about a minute, the watch automatically calls emergency services. This blows Life Alert right out of the water!
The automated voice of the Apple watch contacted emergency services and was able to provide authorities with a detailed description of the issue stating the user had fallen and was not responsive. It then was able to provide an almost exact location of the person using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Dispatch supervisor for the Chandler Police Dept. Adriana Cacciola stated that:
He would never have been able to provide us his location or any information on what was going on, he wasn’t even aware that any help was coming until we were already there.
She strongly endorses the use of smart devices and encourages owners to research all the functions of their devices in order to use them to their full potential. She added:
Technology is there to help, especially if there is an emergency this could save someone’s life and that’s what we are looking for — is to help when you can’t tell us what you need.
There have been other documented cases of Apple watches literally saving lives, from a man in Norway falling and hitting his head, then waking up to police officers standing over him to a woman and her baby being in a car accident, her watch was able to contact authorities and share her location when she could not provide the information.
Perhaps it's time to invest in a watch that could very possibly save your life one day.