9-year-old unlocks unconscious father's iPhone with his face to call 911

Posted:
in iPhone edited November 2021
When 9-year-old Jayline Barbosa Brandao's parents were overcome by carbon monoxide from a backup power generator in October, the Brockton, Mass., girl sprang into action and unlocked her father's Face ID-equipped iPhone to call emergency services.

Brandao
Source: Scott McDonnell via Twitter


On Oct. 28, Brandao was in bed when she heard her dad yelling, reports CNN. Rushing to her parents' room, she found her mother overwhelmed by the odorless gas. Her father lost consciousness shortly after.

"I thought it was just a headache, then two to three minutes I didn't feel anything after that," the girl's mother, Marcelina Brandao, told CNN affiliate WFXT.

Brandao reached for her father's iPhone and unlocked the device by holding it up to his face. It is unclear if iPhone's attention awareness feature was enabled. The security safeguard requires users to look at their device before authorizing entry.

After calling emergency services, the young girl led her 7-year-old sister outside to seek assistance from a neighbor, CNN reports. Brandao's family was taken to the hospital for treatment and all are doing well.

"She was so smart," Brandao's mother said. "That was very scary. If it wasn't (for) her to call right away I don't know what would have happened."

Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was reportedly operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon monoxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.

Likely unbeknownst to Brandao, any user can call emergency services on a locked iPhone by following the appropriate onscreen prompts. Apple also provides an Emergency SOS feature that automatically dials the local emergency number by simultaneously pressing iPhone's volume and side buttons.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    iOS_Guy80mattinozuraharaBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 20
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    Obviously, but this is a 9-year-old child that most likely doesn't use an iPhone for phone calls.  She's a smart kid to find another way.

    gregoriusmmknelsonronnItsDeCiaviclauyych2pAlex_VGraeme000Dogpersonmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 3 of 20
    Missing some details here or some are wrong. 

    Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon dioxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.
    If the generator is off, it isn't generating any CO.

    From an article:
    She said they set the generator up near the back door outside their home and only ran it for a few minutes before shutting it down because it was noisy.
    Then she and her husband unplugged everything from it and brought it into the house for safekeeping.
    They thought it was a safe place, but now she realizes it was too close to the house.
    The National Weather Service says you should keep a backup generator at least 20 feetaway from doors, windows and vents and recommends homes have working carbon monoxide detectors.
    Probably fuzziness of thinking after that, however I doubt it was only for a few minutes. Seems running it near the door, was the problem. Just not going to get fridges cold or stuff charged in that amount of time. Glad they are ok. Wondering if he had his eyes open, to be considered looking at his phone. 
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Missing some details here or some are wrong. 

    Brandao's family set up a borrowed generator after their home had gone without power for three days due to the powerful nor'easter that wreaked havoc on wide swaths of the East Coast. Though the generator was operated outside for only a few minutes before it was switched off and brought indoors, carbon dioxide permeated throughout the house at a detected 1,000 parts per million.
    If the generator is off, it isn't generating any CO.

    From an article:
    She said they set the generator up near the back door outside their home and only ran it for a few minutes before shutting it down because it was noisy.
    Then she and her husband unplugged everything from it and brought it into the house for safekeeping.
    They thought it was a safe place, but now she realizes it was too close to the house.
    The National Weather Service says you should keep a backup generator at least 20 feetaway from doors, windows and vents and recommends homes have working carbon monoxide detectors.
    Probably fuzziness of thinking after that, however I doubt it was only for a few minutes. Seems running it near the door, was the problem. Just not going to get fridges cold or stuff charged in that amount of time. Glad they are ok. Wondering if he had his eyes open, to be considered looking at his phone. 
    May not have had “Require Attention For Face ID” on, a toggle in the settings, which would’ve  cancelled out the need for the eyes to be open. Either way, quick thinking by a 9 year old. 
    Fidonet127ronnGraeme000
  • Reply 5 of 20
    Fred257Fred257 Posts: 236member
    Excellent story, highly intelligent girl!

    Remember though you can call 911 without Face ID correct?
  • Reply 6 of 20
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    But you do need to fail Face ID to get the keypad to come up with the emergency call button. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 20
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    sflocal said:
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    Obviously, but this is a 9-year-old child that most likely doesn't use an iPhone for phone calls.  She's a smart kid to find another way.

    Smart enough to figure out how to unlock the phone, but not smart enough to tap the button that says Emergency?

    Something doesn’t add up in this story. 
  • Reply 8 of 20
    Clever girl.

    Probably use his sleeping dad’s face to buy a few games too. I know I would. 
    uraharaAlex_V
  • Reply 9 of 20
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    If the generator is off, it isn't generating any CO.
    Not creating any once it’s off, sure, but it creates a lot more than you might expect until the engine and exhaust path are up to operating temperature. Run a cold engine for just a few minutes, and it can easily make enough CO to kill you several times over. It also accumulates in the blood for quite a while, so even once ambient concentration drops to normally-tolerable levels, that can still be enough to push somebody already exposed past the point of unconsciousness.

    The risks involved in running a generator (any internal combustion engine, really) are pretty manageable, but they’re really, really dangerous if you don’t know to manage them.
    ronnh2pBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 20
    davidwdavidw Posts: 2,036member
    flydog said:
    sflocal said:
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    Obviously, but this is a 9-year-old child that most likely doesn't use an iPhone for phone calls.  She's a smart kid to find another way.

    Smart enough to figure out how to unlock the phone, but not smart enough to tap the button that says Emergency?

    Something doesn’t add up in this story. 
    Chances are, she didn't have to "figure out" how to unlock the iPhone. I bet she already knew how because she had done it many times before. I bet she had often grabbed her dad's phone, held it up to her dad face and asked him to look into it to unlock it, so she can can play a game or call her mom. Don't forget, she would also have to know how to get to and use the phone pad, to dial a call. I'm sure she didn't just 'figure out" all that, at the moment. 

    What makes her smart was to have the insight to call 911 when she sense that something was wrong with her mom and dad and to get herself and her sister out of the house as quickly as possible. 

    What don't add up is that she and her younger sister was not affected as much, as their adult parents, by the 1000ppm CO that was said to be through out the house. If the concentration of CO was 1000ppm through out the house, she and her younger sister should had been the first to be severely affected. 

    So chances are, the concentration of CO was only very high in closed off back room in the house, where the parents were. Closes to where the generator was running. Which was why it only had to run for a few minutes, to bring the CO concentration to a very deadly level for the parents. And their complaint of the generator being too noisy, as to the reason they shut it off.     

    Wondering if the same event had occur with a Samsung phone, would the make of the phone had been mentioned in the news. For sure the event wouldn't be reported here at AI. 
    gatorguymuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 11 of 20
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    davidw said:
    flydog said:
    sflocal said:
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    Obviously, but this is a 9-year-old child that most likely doesn't use an iPhone for phone calls.  She's a smart kid to find another way.

    Smart enough to figure out how to unlock the phone, but not smart enough to tap the button that says Emergency?

    Something doesn’t add up in this story. 
    Chances are, she didn't have to "figure out" how to unlock the iPhone. I bet she already knew how because she had done it many times before. I bet she had often grabbed her dad's phone, held it up to her dad face and asked him to look into it to unlock it, so she can can play a game or call her mom. Don't forget, she would also have to know how to get to and use the phone pad, to dial a call. I'm sure she didn't just 'figure out" all that, at the moment. 

    What makes her smart was to have the insight to call 911 when she sense that something was wrong with her mom and dad and to get herself and her sister out of the house as quickly as possible. 

    What don't add up is that she and her younger sister was not affected as much, as their adult parents, by the 1000ppm CO that was said to be through out the house. If the concentration of CO was 1000ppm through out the house, she and her younger sister should had been the first to be severely affected. 

    So chances are, the concentration of CO was only very high in closed off back room in the house, where the parents were. Closes to where the generator was running. Which was why it only had to run for a few minutes, to bring the CO concentration to a very deadly level for the parents. And their complaint of the generator being too noisy, as to the reason they shut it off.     

    Wondering if the same event had occur with a Samsung phone, would the make of the phone had been mentioned in the news. For sure the event wouldn't be reported here at AI. 
    No, it doesn't get mentioned anywhere. Google is really bad at getting news that paints them in a positive light out in the media. If they want to poach employees I suggest they look at Apple PR personnel who do an amazingly effective job.

    To the credit of both platforms Apple and Google each put a lot of resources into safety measures that save lives. Smartphones are essential tools for personal protection.
    https://www.androidheadlines.com/2021/02/google-pixel-saves-a-man-thanks-to-car-crash-detection-feature.html

    Kudos due both companies who have been under attack on several fronts with claims that they aren't doing what's best for the consumer. 
    edited November 2021 muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 12 of 20
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    You want to go find that 9 year old and tell her that? 
  • Reply 13 of 20
    mattinoz said:
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    But you do need to fail Face ID to get the keypad to come up with the emergency call button. 
    No you don't.  I was able to activate the emergency call button on my wife's phone (I don't have Face ID enabled on mine, she does) by pressing the power/volume combo.

    Again though, a 9 year old isn't necessarily going to know all the myriad ways to call 911 on an iPhone, and even if they did, remembering them in the face of one's parents being unconscious could be...difficult.  Figuring one of them out in the heat of the moment is a good job. 
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 14 of 20
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    Glad everything worked out.

    One of the benefits of 911 was its universal applicability. It didn’t matter what kind of device you used to dial 911 (or whatever the emergency number is in your country), it resulted in the same result. With cellphones/smartphones it seems like every manufacturer has a different way to summoning the emergency contact service, and with Apple it varies based on the version of the phone you are using. I “discovered” how to dial 911 on my iPhone 10s Max when I was trying to power down the device using the hardware buttons.

    So yeah, this 9 year old could have gotten to 911 without unlocking her Dad’s iPhone using Face ID, but in a real emergency situation you’ll also revert to whatever immediate action first pops into your brain, and for most people that means looking for a phone keypad with numbers of it because the “Dial 911” edict is so ingrained into your brain. The fact that device manufactures have not provided the same exact super simple way to summon a “Dial 911” dialog on every single device is rather insane.

    Yes, you don’t want to trigger unnecessary false alarms, but you should not need to know anything device-specific at all to access the 911 emergency service. There should be a standard mechanism that all phones follow. Heck, if I came upon someone laying unconscious with only a Samsung phone, or even an old iPhone with home button, laying there next to them and if I didn’t have my iPhone with me, the last thing I’d want to be doing is playing the “How to Dial 911 on this Phone Game” on their device. That would not be cool.

    I’m very impressed that this 9 year old found a path to the solution even though it may not have been ideal. Unfortunately it also placed her at greater risk because she was doing this in a hazardous environment.
    Alex_VStrangeDays
  • Reply 15 of 20
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    dewme said:
    Glad everything worked out.

    One of the benefits of 911 was its universal applicability. It didn’t matter what kind of device you used to dial 911 (or whatever the emergency number is in your country), it resulted in the same result. With cellphones/smartphones it seems like every manufacturer has a different way to summoning the emergency contact service, and with Apple it varies based on the version of the phone you are using. I “discovered” how to dial 911 on my iPhone 10s Max when I was trying to power down the device using the hardware buttons.

    So yeah, this 9 year old could have gotten to 911 without unlocking her Dad’s iPhone using Face ID, but in a real emergency situation you’ll also revert to whatever immediate action first pops into your brain, and for most people that means looking for a phone keypad with numbers of it because the “Dial 911” edict is so ingrained into your brain. The fact that device manufactures have not provided the same exact super simple way to summon a “Dial 911” dialog on every single device is rather insane.

    Yes, you don’t want to trigger unnecessary false alarms, but you should not need to know anything device-specific at all to access the 911 emergency service. There should be a standard mechanism that all phones follow. Heck, if I came upon someone laying unconscious with only a Samsung phone, or even an old iPhone with home button, laying there next to them and if I didn’t have my iPhone with me, the last thing I’d want to be doing is playing the “How to Dial 911 on this Phone Game” on their device. That would not be cool.

    I’m very impressed that this 9 year old found a path to the solution even though it may not have been ideal. Unfortunately it also placed her at greater risk because she was doing this in a hazardous environment
    "Emergency Call" is at the bottom of the lock screen when you pick an Android phone up. This works to place a call even if there is no SIM card installed. Optionally, and identical to an iPhone, you can rapidly press the power button 5 times.

    Again, both platforms put a lot of effort into making our smartphones smarter safety devices.
    edited November 2021
  • Reply 16 of 20
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    gatorguy said:
    dewme said:
    Glad everything worked out.

    One of the benefits of 911 was its universal applicability. It didn’t matter what kind of device you used to dial 911 (or whatever the emergency number is in your country), it resulted in the same result. With cellphones/smartphones it seems like every manufacturer has a different way to summoning the emergency contact service, and with Apple it varies based on the version of the phone you are using. I “discovered” how to dial 911 on my iPhone 10s Max when I was trying to power down the device using the hardware buttons.

    So yeah, this 9 year old could have gotten to 911 without unlocking her Dad’s iPhone using Face ID, but in a real emergency situation you’ll also revert to whatever immediate action first pops into your brain, and for most people that means looking for a phone keypad with numbers of it because the “Dial 911” edict is so ingrained into your brain. The fact that device manufactures have not provided the same exact super simple way to summon a “Dial 911” dialog on every single device is rather insane.

    Yes, you don’t want to trigger unnecessary false alarms, but you should not need to know anything device-specific at all to access the 911 emergency service. There should be a standard mechanism that all phones follow. Heck, if I came upon someone laying unconscious with only a Samsung phone, or even an old iPhone with home button, laying there next to them and if I didn’t have my iPhone with me, the last thing I’d want to be doing is playing the “How to Dial 911 on this Phone Game” on their device. That would not be cool.

    I’m very impressed that this 9 year old found a path to the solution even though it may not have been ideal. Unfortunately it also placed her at greater risk because she was doing this in a hazardous environment
    "Emergency Call" is at the bottom of the lock screen when you pick an Android phone up. This works to place a call even if there is no SIM card installed. Optionally, and identical to an iPhone, you can rapidly press the power button 5 times.

    Again, both platforms put a lot of effort into making our smartphones smarter safety devices.

    Google doesn’t give a damn.  They just wanna be the knockoff Apple. Their keynote segments highlighting accessibility like they’re Apple are cringe. 
    edited November 2021
  • Reply 17 of 20
    HeliBumHeliBum Posts: 129member
    I wonder if she had to pry his eyes open. Normally, Face ID doesn't work if your eyes are closed. I guess it's possible that he passed out with his eyes open.
    edited November 2021
  • Reply 18 of 20
    ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
  • Reply 19 of 20
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I turned off Require Attention for Face ID and Attention Aware Features and my iPhone unlocked every time, with my eyes closed. With both features turned on, the phone wouldn't unlock with my eyes closed, but did unlock when I opened one eye. In either case, access could have been accomplished with Face ID.

    My phone is set to tap the screen to wake instead of Raise to Wake. In either case a Face ID failure is needed to bring up the Password screen where Emergency Call is found on the lower left of the screen.

    Or as has been mentioned ad nauseam, a Vol and Sleep button will bring up among other options the Emergency Call slider.

    All you "doesn't add up" clowns are entertaining to say the least. So some details might be missing or incorrect. So fucking what. Doesn't mean there's game afoot.

    Missing some details here or some are wrong. 

    Probably fuzziness of thinking after that, however I doubt it was only for a few minutes. Seems running it near the door, was the problem. Just not going to get fridges cold or stuff charged in that amount of time. Glad they are ok. Wondering if he had his eyes open, to be considered looking at his phone. 
    What standard are you using for "a few minutes"? Nothing in that article states the generator was run until the fridge was cold or "stuff" was charged. It says it was shut off because it was too noisy.  1000ppm could have been generated in as little as 15-20 depending on the proximity to an open door or window.

    Neither did the article say or even imply that the generator being in the house produced any CO but apparently that didn't stop it being inferred. Wow.

    The 7yo could have been in another room with the door shut markedly reducing the amount of CO immediately entering a room. A large room with a shut door could reduce CO saturation long enough for the older sister to get her out of the room.

    But if we're gonna bag on the girl, let's fault her for not opening all the exterior doors and windows to ventilate the house, not doing CPR or mouth-to-mouth and not doing sufficient weight training to drag Mom and Dad at least to an open door for some clearer air. Not to mention that some of those actions might have exposed her to sufficient CO to endanger or kill her and possibly her sister.

    I've seen grown adults in a full panic not know what to do when confronted with even a minor emergency circumstance with a loved one. As correctly mentioned you respond the way your habits dictate or the way you're trained. That's why schools have drills. I think it's exactly right that the girl had some practice borrowing Dad's phone after getting him to unlock it. She had that drill down.

    FFS. The girl did a great job. Both parents unconscious and I'm sure she had no idea why, she quickly called emergency services and got her sister out safely. Had the generator been running when Mom and Dad succumbed to the exhaust at least her sister would have survived with her. As it is the whole family is safe. Great work!
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 20 of 20
    You don't need to unlock an iPhone to make a 911 call ...
    No one bothers to read the actual articles anymore, it seems…
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