What you need to know
- An Apple Watch alerted emergency services of an incident involving an unconscious driver.
- Apple Watch's fall detection called and provided exact GPS data.
- Fall detection is available on Apple Watch Series 4 and newer.
Apple Watch has already proven more than capable when it comes to saving lives and it's been at it again. This time alerting emergency services when a driver was knocked unconscious during a traffic incident.
The incident happened in Surrey, UK, with the local police force tweeting that they were able to attend because an Apple Watch called the emergency services after it detected a fall. Presumably the force of the impact was enough to trigger the alert.
Last week we responded to an automated Apple Watch fall detection alert after a driver that was involved in a collision had been knocked unconscious.
The alarm provided emergency responders with GPS data to quickly locate the scene.
⌚️🛰 > 🚓🚑🚒@Apple @tim_cook pic.twitter.com/cmTW6K2na0Last week we responded to an automated Apple Watch fall detection alert after a driver that was involved in a collision had been knocked unconscious.
The alarm provided emergency responders with GPS data to quickly locate the scene.
⌚️🛰 > 🚓🚑🚒@Apple @tim_cook pic.twitter.com/cmTW6K2na0— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) November 4, 2019November 4, 2019
Once the emergency services were alerted the Apple Watch was also able to provide a GPS location, taking responders straight to the person involved. No further information was provided as to how the incident happened or how the person involved fared.
When Apple Watch detects what it believes to be a fall it taps the wearer on the wrist and sounds an alarm. If no action is taken after 60 seconds it automatically calls the emergency services, as happened in this instance.
Fall detection is available on Apple Watch Series 4 and newer and is absolutely well worth taking the time to enable. It's a feature that has already saved lives.
