The Apple Watch Series 4 has a number of heroic stories behind it, detecting unusual heart rates, prompting their user’s to seek medical attention before uncovering previously undiagnosed conditions. This time, the fall detection summoned the emergency services to save the life of an elderly man who had fallen in his bathroom.
67-year-old Norwegian man, Toralv Ostvang suffered the fall during a midnight trip the bathroom, fracturing his face in three places. His Apple Watch Series 4 detected the fall and summoned the emergency services. Emergency crews discovered Mr. Ostvang bloody and unconscious after responding to the Watch’s alert beacon. Owing to such serious injuries, it’s likely that the patient would not have survived the night if the emergency services had not been called.
The Series 4 comes with a series of motion sensors enabling it to detect a sudden fall and check if a person is still moving. If they fail to respond to the Watch and remain immobile for a full minute, the watch will automatically send location data to any nominated emergency contacts.
It should be noted that fall detection is off by default for people under the age of 65 as intense exercise can trigger false alarms. The health of seniors has become a huge marketing point for the Apple Watch and most models are able to detect atrial fibrillation and the Series 4 comes with a built-in ECG lead.