Apple Watch Series 4 fall detection summons emergency services, saves elderly man
A Norwegian man survived a midnight fall to the floor of his bathroom and skull fractures because the fall detection feature on his Apple Watch Series 4 summoned help.
The man, 67-year-old Toralv Ostvang, fractured his face in three places, according to Norway's NRK. While some details of the incident are unknown, he may have fainted, and was discovered still "bloody and unconscious" when emergency crews responded to the Watch's alert beacon. The man was ultimately diagnosed with several skull fractures, and likely would not have survived the night had emergency services not been called.
Ostvang's daughter Kirsti noted that he hadn't brought his phone into the bathroom, or previously thought of using any other form of fall alert.
The motion sensors on the Series 4 allow it to detect a sudden fall and check if a person is still moving. If they don't respond to their Watch and are immobile for a full minute, watchOS will automatically ping emergency contacts with location data.
It's not clear how many other people may have been rescued by the technology beyond an incident in Sweden last October. One problem is that fall detection is off by default for people under the age of 65, since intense physical activity can trigger false alarms.
Senior health has become a marketing point for the Apple Watch. Most models can detect atrial fibrillation, and the Series 4 goes a step further in that regard with a built-in ECG lead.
The man, 67-year-old Toralv Ostvang, fractured his face in three places, according to Norway's NRK. While some details of the incident are unknown, he may have fainted, and was discovered still "bloody and unconscious" when emergency crews responded to the Watch's alert beacon. The man was ultimately diagnosed with several skull fractures, and likely would not have survived the night had emergency services not been called.
Ostvang's daughter Kirsti noted that he hadn't brought his phone into the bathroom, or previously thought of using any other form of fall alert.
The motion sensors on the Series 4 allow it to detect a sudden fall and check if a person is still moving. If they don't respond to their Watch and are immobile for a full minute, watchOS will automatically ping emergency contacts with location data.
It's not clear how many other people may have been rescued by the technology beyond an incident in Sweden last October. One problem is that fall detection is off by default for people under the age of 65, since intense physical activity can trigger false alarms.
Senior health has become a marketing point for the Apple Watch. Most models can detect atrial fibrillation, and the Series 4 goes a step further in that regard with a built-in ECG lead.
Comments
I wonder if emergency services arrived before family members, and if so, whether they broke into the house to respond? I’ve often wondered what would happen in such a situation where the Apple Watch is doing the calling, not an actual person.
Of course it was over before anyone could come and take an EKG, and being in Europe, that is not active on the watch, so I could not obtain one myself. I hope that Apple will get it approved and activated here too soon.
When I wore it with the default Clock app, it was dangerously hard to decide which button was Snooze and which turned alarm off.
I know 67 year olds who can't even see their toes much less touch them.
I know an 80 year old who can blow my doors off in a 10K race.
At 68 I am in probably the best shape of my life. But that's due to an hour+ a day hard exercise and a healthy diet. But, had I not changed my lifestyle 6 years ago I would now likely be in bad shape.
As a nurse what I have seen is that the worst cases are not the ones where the person had to be rescued before they died (such as this case). But rather the ones who lay on the floor for several days before being found. They come in in truly horrible condition and often never fully recover. Ugly! Really Ugly!
My habits haven't changed, I now get more info off my watch -- heart rate, alarms, weather, notifications, sleep time, etc.