How the Apple Watch May Save Your Life After a Fall

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Q. Someone told me about the new Apple Watch having a fall detector so it can call your emergency contacts if you have a serious fall. I’m thinking of getting an Apple Watch just for this reason. Can you please do an article explaining more about this? Thanks!

A. You were told correctly. The latest Apple Watch, Series 4, has a slip, trip and fall detector that may be the most important safety feature of the Apple Watch. Series 4 has an EKG monitor to detect abnormal heart rhythms, which is also an important safety feature.

Yet only certain people have heart conditions that could benefit from having an EKG on their wrists, while any of us could have an undetected slip, trip or fall. Having a Fall Detector on your Apple Watch could be an important, even life-saving, tool.

What Fall Detection Does on the Apple Watch

When Fall Detection is enabled on the Apple Watch Series 4 it can detect hard falls, including slips and trips. After the Watch detects a hard fall, it taps the wearer on the wrist to notify them that a fall has been detected. The wearer can then tap Close or I’m OK, or press the Digital Crown (the round button on the Watch) to dismiss the notice.

If the wearer does not respond within one minute and no further motion is detected, a 15-second countdown will start. During that time an alarm will sound and will gradually get louder to alert anyone nearby that a fall has happened.

At the end of the countdown, the Apple Watch will call emergency services if the notice hasn’t been cancelled. During the call to emergency services a recorded message will play explaining that a fall has been detected. The location of the wearer will be sent to emergency services.

After the emergency call has ended, the Apple Watch will then send a text message to the wearer’s emergency contacts listed in the wearer’s iPhone Health app letting them know that a hard fall was detected and that emergency services have been called. The location of the wearer will also be sent to emergency contacts.

If the wearer begins moving again or if the wearer turns off the notification within one minute of the fall or during the 15-second countdown, no emergency notification will be sent.

Update: Fall Detection on an Apple Watch helped save a woman’s life after a car accident. See, iDrop News, This Unlikely Apple Watch Feature Helped Save an 87-Year-Old Woman After a Car Crash

A history of your falls will be kept in the Health app on your iPhone. To see your fall history in the Health app go to Health Data => Results.

How to Use Fall Detection on Apple Watch Series 4

The Apple Watch Series 4 can detect slips, trips, and falls, if Fall Detection is turned on. Apple automatically turns this feature on for wearers who are at least 65 years old, if they’ve entered their age in their Health app settings on their iPhone.

Don’t miss =>  ICE: How the Apple Health App May Save Your Life

To turn on Fall Detection for your Apple Watch Series 4, open the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to My Watch => Emergency SOS => Fall Detection and turn it on.

Note that no earlier models of Apple Watch have Fall Detection, only Series 4 which is the most recent model.

When Not to Use Fall Detection on the Apple Watch

Fall Detection can save lives but it may not be for everyone. Apple warns that if you ‘re physically active you might accidentally trigger Fall Detection.

If you regularly engage in sports such as gymnastics, wrestling, judo or cliff diving, you may find false alarms annoying, then Fall Detection may not be for you.

Apple Watch Saving Lives

Earlier this year an Apple Watch wearer in Norway, Toralv Østvang, was saved when he fell in his bathroom one night following surgery. The fall knocked Østvang unconscious and caused fractures to three of his facial bones. His Apple Watch detected the fall and alerted emergency services. See, 9to5 Mac Apple Watch fall detection credited with saving user in Norway after severe overnight fall

Last year a 34 year old man in Sweden named Gustavo Rodriguez was wearing an Apple Watch when a painful back spasm caused him to fall to the floor while he was cooking. The fall detector was activated on Rodriguez’s Apple Watch.

Rodriguez was conscious and turned off the emergency notification but then realized he needed assistance because he was in so much pain. He could not reach his iPhone but was able to call his mother-in-law using his Apple Watch. She came to his home, turned off the stove and called an ambulance for him. See Forbes, Has Apple Watch Series 4 Fall Detection Saved Its First Life?

Also see => 7 Ways to Monitor Your Heart Rate Using Apple Watch

Testing Fall Detection on the Apple Watch

The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern tested Fall Detection on the Apple Watch with a professional Hollywood stunt double. A video shows how Fall Detection was activated by nearly all of the falls taken by the stunt double.

The Wall Street Journal, Apple Watch Series 4 Fall Detection Tested By a Hollywood Stunt Double

Although the video may appear violent, no one was actually hurt in the making of the video.

Note that not all falls by the stunt double were detected by the Apple Watch and Apple warns that Fall Detection isn’t perfect. But most of the falls in The Wall Street Journal test were detected by Fall Detection on the Apple Watch.

Your Thoughts

Did you know that the Apple Watch has a Fall Detection feature? Do you think Fall Detection is a helpful safety feature? If you have an Apple Watch Series 4, do you have Fall Detection turned on?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!