
Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911 - throwaway413
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/bike-crash-left-spokane-man-unconscious-but-his-apple-watch-called-911
======
WA
I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we
please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many
comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate
the odds of:

\- you are in a terrible accident

\- there is no one around you to call an ambulance

\- you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t
move

I think the odds for such an event are rather low. If you like smart watches,
sure, go ahead and buy one. But for everybody who just wants to wear it
because they are afraid: I don’t think it’s necessary for most people, unless
you ride around alone in remote areas and are inexperienced or whatever.

My point is: don’t buy because of fear if your risk profile is super
incredibly low.

~~~
coldtea
> _\- you are in a terrible accident

\- there is no one around you to call an ambulance

\- you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t
move_

Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain
sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age.

In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European
country says: "The elderly die either from falling or while shitting" \-- the
original is funnier than the translation, because the two causes rhyme).

The accident doesn't have to be terrible either. Tons of run of the mill
accidents leave people unconscious...

But you don't read about such cases as such.

E.g. an elder person who fell either they eventually get up in time and call
for help (so you don't read any story), or they don't, and the story is
"person found dead in their apartment" etc, and might or might not mention the
fall...

Is it as necessary as a spare tire in your car or a fire extinguisher in your
home? No. But (since the device it does other stuff too) not bad to have
regardless.

Note: For certain categories, this is so needed, that there are expensive
special purpose devices that are popular for certain cases (e.g. elderly with
dementia, parkison, bad backs, and so on), e.g.:
[https://www.medicalalertadvice.com/fall-
detection/](https://www.medicalalertadvice.com/fall-detection/)

But this is a multi-purpose device, and a cool one at that, plus it has a
phone attached and can call the 911 itself, and gives this ability as just
another feature to everyone!

~~~
blacksmith_tb
Likely your Apple Watch won't be able to call for help if you're injured
trekking or climbing, unless there's a cell tower on the mountain.

Having personally been run over cycling, multiple passersby called 911 for me
immediately, and I was in a ambulance in less than 10min.

~~~
coldtea
> _Likely your Apple Watch won 't be able to call for help if you're injured
> trekking or climbing, unless there's a cell tower on the mountain._

Don't know about the US, but in several mountains I've been on around the
world (not in developing countries though), signal was just fine. It might not
work for Everest, or the remotest part of the Rockies, but most hikings/treks
are not in such places...

~~~
aeorgnoieang
I wouldn't be surprised if Everest specifically has some coverage nowadays.

------
selimthegrim
My cousin died last week of a heart attack on the way from his house in a
village south of Nuremberg to the bakery 10 minutes away to get bread for
breakfast. His Apple Watch (presumably because of the fall detection) called
emergency services for him and gave him time to call his wife.

~~~
rolltiide
Sorry to read your cousin died this way. I don't understand.

The Apple Watch told him his heart isn't working right - automatically calling
emergency services - and he also called his wife to let him know the watch
says there is an emergency with his heart?

Or was it that he too passed out, the Apple Watch called emergency services,
who resuscitated him enabling him to call his wife?

~~~
function_seven
I think the watch detected his fall (which was a result of the heart attack)

~~~
joshvm
The specs for the watch specifically rule out heart attack detection, by the
way.

> Apple Watch cannot detect heart attacks. If you ever experience chest pain,
> pressure, tightness, or what you think is a heart attack, call emergency
> services immediately.

~~~
DuskStar
"What we list for legal purposes" and "what the device actually does" might
not be the same thing. I imagine saying "my device detects heart attacks" gets
the FDA involved and makes everything ten times more expensive...

~~~
kirrent
Well the watch isn't measuring troponin levels so it's hard to imagine how
useful it could ever be at MI detection, especially given the limitations of a
poor contact single lead ECG.

~~~
JshWright
Even if it could check a trop, that's a pretty late indicator. If you're
having the big one, you're going to be dead before your troponin spikes.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
Is that right? When I worked in medical instrumentation, I was always told
that TnI was a leading marker.

~~~
JshWright
It will take up to 8 hours for troponin levels to rise after the onset of
symptoms (typically 3-4).

~~~
btach
ER nurse here - some STEMIs I've taken care of had negative initial trop's
(not all though). The 4 hr delta should of course be positive though - I don't
typically check the 4 hr repeat for STEMIs though because they're long gone
out of the ED to the cath lab then to CVICU.

------
bonniemuffin
Tip: the fall detection feature seems to be turned off by default. I just
turned mine on. [https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208944](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944)

~~~
FreakyT
Also of note: Fall detection is exclusive to the series 4 or above, which
seems questionable.

(I would be very surprised if the series 3 and 4 have significantly different
accelerometer hardware)

~~~
alphakappa
Consider that to detect falls reliably, you might need an accelerometer with a
higher range than that was in the original watch.

~~~
JaRail
Might also have needed a higher sample rate.

For battery life concerns, I can see them implementing some of the fall
detection logic in hardware as well. For example, a high shock or shaking
could trigger the fall-detection software to wake. Although, with the
60-second period, they probably wake the main processor often enough anyway
that hardware detection might not save much power.

------
cbsks
Well, crap. I have been avoiding smart watches like the plague but this plus
the ECG may put me over the edge. My family has a history of heart disease, I
commute by bike every day, and I have a young child who I want to see grow up.

One of my friends was recently killed in a motorcycle crash. A passerby found
them in the morning in some bushes near the side of the road. We don't know
what time the crash occurred, or even if they died right away. This feature
may have saved them.

~~~
jniedrauer
If you're in the market for a smart watch, and you're a cyclist, I'd recommend
checking out Garmin. They have a massive array of sensors and record very
precise data that is aggregated on Garmin Connect. It's been invaluable to me
for assessing training effectiveness over time. They make Apple watches look
like toys. If you want the latest and greatest, the Forerunner 945 is probably
what you're looking for, but the older models can be found for cheap and are
still solid watches. If you want emergency alerts, you'll have to stick with
newer models though.

~~~
quietthrow
I think you are missing the point here completely and utterly. Compared to
what the Apple Watch can do (as mention on the post and several comments) the
garmin watch may be the real toy here.

~~~
sh-run
That's hardly true, the two devices have very different purposes. I couldn't
run an ultramarathon (or even a shorter trail race) in an apple watch. That's
before we even start talking about features. The battery would die long before
I finish.

The FR945 that was released this year has far more features than the apple
watch (including the emergency features). Even comparing the Apple Watch 4 to
my FR935 (released in 2017), the Apple watch would be a huge step down for my
purposes. That's all without mentioning the fact that I'd probably break the
apple watch on my first outing.

The Apple watch might be a better smart watch for day-to-day use, but next to
a Garmin it's pretty obvious which is the toy.

[https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-
calculator?ty...](https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-
calculator?type=watch&ids=91895%2C102074%2C72457%2C97965#results)

~~~
floil
When I was a kid, my next door neighbor was an ultra-marathoner and the
fittest person I'd ever met. He died suddenly one day of a heart attack while
out on a run.

~~~
sh-run
When this happens it's typically due to undiagnosed cardiomyopathy (which is
very difficult to detect). It's true that when something like that happens to
someone they would've lived longer had they not been an endurance athlete, but
most endurance athletes live about as long as their less-active peers.

I get a yearly physical just to be safe, but honestly running is my favorite
way to decompress and I'd need some kind of diagnosis before giving it up.

~~~
djhn
> most endurance athletes live about as long as their less-active peers.

I'd venture to say they live far longer.

From the introduction of Vina & al 2016:

In longitudinal studies, physically active men and women have an approximately
30% lower risk of death compared with inactive people (Schnohr et al. 2015).
No upper threshold for physical activity has ever been recommended (Pate et
al. 1995). In fact, in studies performed on top‐level athletes, participation
in endurance competitive sports increases life expectancy (Hartley &
Llewellyn, 1939; Prout, 1972). Moreover, Karvonen and co‐workers found that
Finnish champion skiers lived 2.8–4.3 years longer than the general male
population in Finland (Karvonen et al. 1974). We tested the effect of
strenuous exercise, performed by well‐trained humans, on their longevity. We
measured average and maximal lifespan in cyclists who had taken part in the
Tour de France between the years 1932 and 1964 and compared them with those of
the average population in those years. Only cyclists born in Belgium, France
and Italy were included in our study. The results were striking: we found an
11% increase in average longevity in Tour de France participants when compared
with the general population (Sanchis‐Gomar et al. 2011). These results have
been confirmed recently with the observation of a significant 41% lower
mortality rate among French elite cyclists from the Tour de France, compared
with the general male population (Marijon et al. 2013). Evidence from human
studies supports the notion that regular, vigorous aerobic exercise might be a
useful tool, with a dose–response effect, to improve the overall health status
and longevity of the general population (Ruiz et al. 2010; Teramoto & Bungum,
2010). However, the controversy regarding the potential adverse effects of
regular strenuous physical exercise continues (Benito et al. 2011; Schnohr et
al. 2013). Schnohr and co‐workers have found that moderate‐intensity joggers
have lower mortality rates that sedentary people or high intensity joggers. In
other words the relationship between intensity of jogging and mortality
follows a U‐shaped curve (Schnohr et al. 2015). Thus, the ideal ‘dose’ of
exercise needed to improve longevity is not a simple linear relationship.
Genetic aspects as well as lifestyle factors (smoking, diet and alcohol
consumption) may be important in interpreting studies aimed at determining the
effect of exercise training on longevity.

~~~
UweSchmidt
I suspect that generally only healthy people would become serious endurance
athletes. Is that taken into account in these studies?

I also suspect lifting weights (and a bunch of other things) is important for
long term health, how does that relate?

------
egdod
We got a call recently from my elderly grandmother’s Apple Watch letting us
know that she’d fallen. This feature was the main reason we bought the watch
for her, and it worked when it mattered. (She’s fine.)

~~~
ocodia
What did it say? Was it using Siri’s voice?

~~~
egdod
I actually didn’t get the call myself, so I couldn’t say. I’m sure there are
examples of it on YouTube or whatever though.

------
myrandomcomment
I really want an Apple Watch for this and the EKG / Heart stuff. But I hate
the idea of having another bit of technology on my wrist when I already have
the iPhone with me. I like watches, the mechanical kind. I love them as the
art of design and as fashion item to be match to what you are wearing (when
appropriate). I do not want to give that up. In the end I will likely give in
and get the Apple Watch just because I want to be around long enough to see my
kid grow up.

~~~
8ytecoder
Think of the Apple Watch as something that you can use to reduce your phone
usage. If you get the one with cellular and GPS, you can go
walking/biking/outside and be reachable while at the same time not staring at
your phone all the time. Even when you are at home the justification, for me
at least, to keep the phone closer was because I might get a call or message I
need to respond to. With the Watch, the phone goes straight to its stand as
soon as I get home knowing well that I'll get the notification on my watch.
This is what's finally helping me wean off the constant need to keep my phone
and pull it out to check instagram/hn/reddit repeatedly if I'm bored for even
a second.

~~~
myrandomcomment
So I kicked the Reddit habit. I pretty much only read HN, BBCNews, ft.com and
ArsTechnica at this point. I have stopped looking at my iPad, iPhone, etc.
when watching TV, sport or a movie. The need to always look was really
unhealthy. I am much happier now. I have like 5 books on my iPad that I have
never quite finished over the last 2 years when before all this easy tech I
would have read them quite quickly. It really bugs me. I am going back to
paper books as it forces focus (no, I do not want a book only reader to carry
as well). The only reason I really care about having the phone with me is for
the family. Between email, slack, hangouts, AppleIM and Line it is all just to
damn much.

~~~
brootstrap
agreed. the responder there is such classic apple. You should get the watch
because it counts as not looking at your phone?? Even though you are still
looking at a screen. Kind of bizarre logic to me but to each their own bud.

Also good for you man, ditchin some of the distractions for focus. I think
some people get weirded out by me when i watch sports because i'm basically
100% in the zone and yelling constantly. Trying to soak up every detail of
every play. not casually browsing and watching 2 / 3 screens at once. I can go
hours without my phone without really noticing much honestly.

------
ineedasername
I have lots of criticisms for Apple, but this is truly an amazing thing that
technology has brought us to this point. This is one of the few things that
has me feeling like we "live in the future"

~~~
melling
In the future, everyone will wear a smart watch (2015):

[https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-the-future-
everyo...](https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-the-future-everyone-
will-wear-a-smartwatch/)

I’m disappointed that Android Wear didn’t take off.

More competition would greatly increase innovation.

~~~
ChuckNorris89
_> I’m disappointed that Android Wear didn’t take off. More competition would
greatly increase innovation._

Android wearables have a chicken and egg problem. Manufacturers aren't
innovating because nobody is buying and nobody is buying because there are no
innovations.

Apple is fully vertically integrated so it can recoup the high R&D costs for
new silicon and other components through the price of the unit but on Android
platforms you have separate manufacturers for the vital components who are
under pressure to be cost competitive as they don't get a slice of the profits
of the final product so they won't invest in R&D until they see enough
consumer demand which isn't there.

~~~
macintux
Apple also has the willingness (and resources, but those resources are a
consequence of that willingness) to double down on tech it believes in.

If Apple Watch hadn’t been an immediate success, I’d like to think they’d
still be pushing hard to make it so.

Most of its competitors have far more offerings with much less commitment
behind any one of them.

~~~
djrogers
> If Apple Watch hadn’t been an immediate success, I’d like to think they’d
> still be pushing hard to make it so.

Apple Watch _wasn 't_ an immediate success - at least not in the form we see
it today. WatchOS 1.0 was dramatically different from what we have today, with
much less focus on health and more focus on 'connecting you with people' and
stuff.

Apple kept working at it, paring out the stuff that wasn't useful (the side
button was originally dedicated to a list of contacts to send messages to for
example), and doubled down on the stuff that was (health). Clearly it has
worked...

~~~
macintux
All true, but the original Watch brought over $1 billion in revenue in its
quarter of release[1], so I’d call that a success.

[1]: [https://1reddrop.com/2019/01/07/apple-watch-sales-history-
fr...](https://1reddrop.com/2019/01/07/apple-watch-sales-history-
from-2015-to-2018-3-years-and-50-million-units-in-the-making/)

------
ludwigvan
Does this feature work outside the US? Which countries are supported?
[https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/](https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/)
has a country list but not for this feature specifically.

edit: found [https://www.apple.com/watchos/feature-
availability/](https://www.apple.com/watchos/feature-availability/)

~~~
snuxoll
Emergency SOS should work in any country, as long as you have your iPhone
nearby or you have a Cellular-enabled watch.

Your second link is specific to international roaming with the cellular-
enabled watch, which gets complicated for various reasons (do you need an
active SIM, does the modem on the watch support bands used in that country).

~~~
thirdsun
The latest Series 5 watch has improved the international SOS feature - from
the Ars Technica review[1]:

> The improvements to the SIP and cellular bands allows the Series 5 to make
> use of its SOS feature in more than 150 countries now. If you find yourself
> in a bad situation, or the Watch's fall detection kicks in when you fall off
> your bike during a cycling workout, users with cellular Series 5 models can
> now call emergency services in various countries.

[0] [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/apple-watch-
series-5...](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/apple-watch-
series-5-review-a-better-more-independent-timepiece/2/#h1)

------
jonplackett
Great names in this article. Julie Happy from the fire service and the
accident happening on Doomsday Hill. Reads like a kids story.

------
mstade
I just got my series 5 Apple Watch a couple of days ago, and the ECG
functionality is a big part of why. There's history of heart disease in my
family, and I've been to the doctor a few times with symptoms but of course
when I get there they find nothing wrong. Maybe I'm a hypochondriac, who
knows. Anyway, last time I went my doctor asked if I could share data from my
watch, so figure I'd upgrade so I can get an actual ECG – what a time to
(hopefully) be alive!

~~~
zaksoup
I was able to ask my doctor to prescribe a halter monitor for 24 hours after
similarly having intermittent "irregular heartbeat". I have fantastic
insurance and have access to a major cardiac research center so ymmv but may
be worth asking for the 24 hour study if you're concerned.

Ultimately what I got back was "yep you do have an irregular heartbeat
sometimes. It's nothing threatening and you'll be fine." They additionally did
a stress test and found that under exertion my heartbeat returns to normal so
it was nice to have the peace of mind.

------
Topgamer7
> His watch messaged emergency medical services at 12:02 p.m., and an
> ambulance was there within a minute.

Talk about response time, wow!

~~~
eatbitseveryday
Please do not use code blocks for quotes, it creates long side-scrolling
windows.

~~~
crushingcrash
Can someone fix this? WHERE'S DANG, he's sniffing around all the time. It has
to be one line of CSS.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Can someone fix this?

There is nothing to fix: code blocks do (almost) exactly the right thing for
code. (the indentation on the right is unnecessary and counterproductive,
though, but that's not the main source of the complaint here.)

They are horrible for quotes, especially on mobile, but that's not what they
are for. Admittedly, quotes are vastly more common than code on HN and HN
could use a good quote formatting mechanism, but that's a missing feature, not
a bug in code formatting.

~~~
claudiawerner
Even just formatting > as <blockquote> would be a good change.

------
swayvil
My friend was digging a hole in her garden. Her watch asked her, "are you
ok?".

~~~
segmondy
Digging is a very strenuous activity as well as shoveling. Anytime there's a
major snow storm, enough people die from shoveling. So it probably detected
that she was very stressed.

~~~
thanatos_dem
Can confirm, grandfather died from a heart attack when shoveling snow.

~~~
chubbyrabbit
Mine slipped a disc while shovelling as well. The torso twisting motion is
really bad if you have existing back problem.

~~~
Marsymars
Any time I see someone shovelling a sidewalk or driveway with something other
than a sleigh shovel, I'm baffled at why they're not using a sleigh shovel.

------
solatic
FTA:

> As opposed to social media or GPS tracking apps, Schaeffer said the Apple
> Watch fall-detection feature offers extra reassurance by not relying on a
> person to alert first responders.

We're early enough in the adoption cycle that this is an undeniable benefit.
Obviously, if nobody else is around, then it's life-saving. But I do worry
about the long-term ethics. What if, when such watches become common, it
becomes socially acceptable to just ignore people in life-threatening distress
- "I don't need to call 911, their watch will have taken care of that." Just
another nail in the societal coffin of distorting individualism as insularity.

Not a reason to ban this technology (or any similar action). Just something to
keep in the back of our heads as the adoption curve progresses.

~~~
daliusd
I think this is nothing new to worry about. Bystander effect
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect))
was relevant before Apple Watch.

~~~
Jataman606
There was a study recently that basically debunked this theory. It was done by
tracking real incidents through cameras in big cities in Europe. Long story
short, the more people were there the more likely that someone offers help.

~~~
invalidusernam3
A lot of countries in Europe have Duty to rescue laws
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_rescue)):

"circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the
rescue of another party who could face potential injury or death without being
rescued"

~~~
Myrmornis
In contrast, in 2007 a man in Baghdad noticed an injured man by the side of
the road, and stopped his car (containing 2 children) to help. He was
immediately killed by the US military for doing so; they were watching from an
Apache helicopter and shot him dead for stopping to help.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstri...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike)

------
squarefoot
This is a simple obvious addon that every connected portable device could
implement. When I bought my fist and last smartphone (Android 2 at that time)
after noticing it had an accelerometer on board I immediately thought of an
app that could detect a fall when going at some speed, then start beeping for
like say 10 seconds and in case the user didn't stop it (as in signaling "I'm
ok") it would call emergency numbers sending them coordinates through SMS. I
had other things to do at that time, and it seemed so obvious that I thought
it already existed or someone soon would create something similar.

~~~
gok
This really wouldn't work for phones. The accelerometer needs to be very high
precision, which is why it only works on very recent Apple Watch models. The
accelerometer also needs to be running all the time, even while the main
processor on the device is sleeping. Also you need a reliable way to detect
that the device is firmly attached to a human; it's not acceptable to call 911
when a phone falls on its own.

------
reilly3000
I know that hill, used to drive it most weekdays and have ran up it several
times. Its not the steepest grade, but long with gnarly pavement at the
bottom. Cars zip through there at 45 though its a 30mph zone because the lanes
are quite wide. He's pretty lucky.

------
Lio
Until an Apple Watch is able to work with my ANT+ powermeter it's something I
would avoid taking on a bike ride.

Garmin, Whahoo and other bike computers have had off crash alerts via a linked
phone for, maybe, 10 years I think. Certainly since the Garmin Edge 1000 at
least. That's a better fit for me as I'd never ride without my phone in a
jersey pocket.

I'd always want a screen in front of me and not on my wrist.

~~~
ricardobeat
Have you heard of that feature actually working? Fall detection is going to be
_a lot_ less reliable from a phone than a wrist watch. In fact when I googled
it one of the top three results is 'how do I turn off incident detection on my
Garmin' due to false alerts.

~~~
Lio
Well I never actually used it myself as I haven't crashed for years but I know
it's there. Equally though I've never heard of this working from an Apple
Watch before so I don't think my anecdotal opinion on that is worth raising.

I do know I use stuff like VO2Max estimation, FTP estimation, recovery
estimation, power zones analysis and hill descriptions for climbing while on
the bike and those features are not available on an Apple Watch to my
knowledge. I know for sure that Apple doesn't support ANT+ and that's
important for me.

An Apple Watch might be a good companion if you're a runner or a cycle
commuter but it appears to be pretty limited if you want to use it for cycle
sport.

------
al_chemist
Remember, only Apple Watch™ can save your life and your loved one's. Buy one
now for each person you care about. You care about them, do you?

~~~
frabbit
I think you would be an irresponsible monster if you did not track your family
and yourself at all times.

------
systemtest
I agree that in this particular use case it was beneficial to wear an Apple
Watch. But never ever wear a watch on your motorcycle. The force and impact
can mess up your wrist in a crash. If you land on the watch it can push the
case into your wrist potentially breaking it. Or hook behind something. If you
do insist on a watch, wear a motorcycle jacket and long gloves over it.

~~~
flatfilefan
Is this based on real accident statistics? If you ride motorcycle without
gloves and jacket and crash you will have much more severe injuries to care
about much more certainly. So I would doubt wearing a watch is a significant
risk factor.

~~~
mirthflat83
Answer: it is not based on real statistics nor experience

~~~
systemtest
I'd love to send you some pictures of the titanium plate in my wrist.
Motorcycle accident, went over the bars in an angle that my wrists didn't
like. Not caused by a watch but ever since I stopped wearing watches. Adding
100+ grams of steel near such a delicate bone is a recipe for disaster.

Also, as a developer, I don't care as much about losing functionality in my
lower body. My wrists, hands and brains however are how I make my money. Even
though I have full disability insurance, I still would much rather keep
working than sit at home.

------
sbmthakur
This is a great scenario where technology has been put to a good use. I've
never used smart watches. This is like an eye opener for me.

~~~
mshroyer
Props to the engineers and PMs who implemented this feature. Well done.

------
VectorLock
I'd love to get my Mom and Apple Watch but getting her to switch to iPhone is
probably a bridge too far. How come no Android watches have this
functionality?

~~~
e40
Or, why hasn't someone made it possible to use an Apple watch on Android?

~~~
VectorLock
From what I've come to understand its possible to use the Apple Watch cellular
without an iPhone but its a severely gimped experience.

~~~
MBCook
You need an iPhone to set it up, update it, and otherwise manage it. To
whatever degree it works without the phone there you’re still going to need
one.

------
Avamander
What is the saddest is that some of Apple Watch's features are region-locked,
recently heard a person complain about how he can't use the EKG functionality
in his country. It could save some lives and we have georestrictions :/

~~~
paxys
Likely for legal/regulatory reasons.

------
markstos
I have crash detection on my Garmin watch. It texted my wife zero seconds
after I rode up a steep drainage ditch. I had not crashed.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
Imagine the panic some mother is going to have when her two teenage sons get
in a car to go somewhere, safely get that somewhere and for whatever reason
high-five each other as hard as they possibly can.

~~~
Avamander
The Apple watch has a countdown and a sound alert before alerting anyone.

~~~
markmark
Garmins give you 30 seconds to cancel the alert too.

------
dghughes
On the flip side of this Samsung removed the oxygen saturation SPO2 feature
from its phones in Canada and Cyprus (weirdly random choices). It was probably
for legal reasons but you'd never find out why.

Here in Canada my dad who has COPD and IPF was using it to get a ballpark idea
of his current blood oxygen percentage. It's not a medical device but it's
(was) convenient for someone in his situation.

It seems fraudulent for a company to remove a feature without notice (yes
probably buried on line 1,256 of an update). Not just an app but one that used
a physical device/sensor on the phone removing it seems very wrong if not
illegal.

~~~
azinman2
Pure speculation: perhaps it wasn’t reliable enough so it got yanked?

~~~
SomeOldThrow
I’d think the decision should be up to the owner of the device. Who is the
company to determine acceptable functionality AFTER purchase?

~~~
inimino
Who is in a better position to know if such a feature doesn't work?

~~~
SomeOldThrow
It’s not really related to determination of use value or other qualitative
questions. If my blender, or even my blood pressure machines, gets recalled,
the company doesn’t break into my house to cut the wires for my safety. How is
this not a basic violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?

Edit: canada and cyprus only is why.

~~~
inimino
Right. But you own your blender. It's naïve to think you own your phone just
because you carry it around.

~~~
SomeOldThrow
Is it? That definition of property worked pretty well. Try and take it I’ll
hit you, etc. Otherwise why pay for it and why not just take it by force?

Just a matter of time before these companies get too greedy and get hit with
violence.

~~~
inimino
Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. People are putting microphones in their
homes that Amazon controls and that serve no purpose but to let them spend
money with Amazon more conveniently. The old definition of property doesn't
really capture that does it?

------
rapfaria
I'd love to have this passive features, but the problems I have with
smartwatches is that most of them are ugly, and I'm trying to minimize
notifications in my life.

~~~
thanatos_dem
You can disable pretty much all notifications from the watch, separately from
your phone. I only use my apple watch for activity tracking, music while
cycling without my phone, and things like checking the weather (and time, I
guess).

As for them being ugly, at least Apple has a wide selection of bands, and the
watch itself is as unoffensive as a rounded rect can be, but I feel you there.
It's not a work of art, but at least it's not the house arrest bracelets that
fitbit sells.

------
ajoy
I agree the Apple Watch is really useful this way. But can't an "independent"
device do this?

It does not need to be tied to a phone or an app ecosystem (android or iOS) to
work. It does need a cellular connection, and some logic on the device, but
that's about it. This device would be cheaper and affordable to a larger set
of people than spending upwards of $500(estimated) on an apple watch.

~~~
Eric_WVGG
One could also carry around a calculator that's cheaper than their cellphone.

Not many folks under 60 walk around wearing heart monitors, fall detectors,
and other health monitors. This is about those things becoming commonplace for
everyone.

~~~
selimthegrim
My cousin was 53, vegetarian, biked and ran regularly. This gave him the
chance to say goodbye.

------
zed88
This is one feature that Apple is certainly heading in the right direction.

------
therealmarv
Curios: does Android Wear OS has none of this features?

\- Heart rate monitoring and warning when something is not right with the
heart?

\- Fall detection and call 911?

~~~
Eric_WVGG
Upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 has heart rate, ECG, warnings, and fall
detection… but Samsung, so who knows how well any of it will work.

~~~
ineedasername
I don't think the Active 2 is an Android WearOS device. However I have the
Active 1 and very much prefer it to WearOS.

~~~
arwineap
It's not, it's a tizen device.

I preordered, but maybe it's because I've been off samsung so long I've
forgotten

------
lquist
This is why I am on Hacker News. Technology can be such a terribly helpful
thing.

PS If this is a PR placement, this is masterful.

~~~
concordDance
There's probably a PR firm involved at some point. Possibly in the comments?

------
honkycat
After using my IPad's software quality, the killer lineup for Apple Arcade,
and being impressed with Apple's commitment to privacy:

As a long time Apple hater, they are doing a great job of convincing me to
spend the money on their products.

( MacBook Pro is still overpriced and kinda sad tho )

~~~
freyr
MacBook Pro is _now_ overpriced and kinda sad.

It peaked in 2015, and it was a truly beautiful machine.

------
kraig911
It's amazing and all I get it. But let's not stop helping people because we
think technology will always do it's job.

I can see in time people will say they didn't stop to help because they
thought his car, watch, phone could've saved him.

------
FireBeyond
Life Alert, horrendous as their ads may be, would probably be surprised to
hear that it's only now that you're finding a "device which can contact
emergency services in the event of an accident" so life changing. As might
OnStar, etc.

~~~
derefr
As well as what the sibling commentors have pointed out, Life Alert also never
bothered to partner with a company that would put their system into a piece of
consumer-electronics that the average healthy (maybe even _young_ ) adult
would buy for themselves. Nobody wants to wear a LifeAlert bracelet _and_ a
watch/fitness-tracker; they want their watch/fitness-tracker to just _have
that functionality_. And so they make a choice, and end up dying in a ditch
somewhere.

~~~
ChuckMcM
This is the key thing.

There are many good ideas that exist out there that are "unknown" because the
product they are in misses some aspect of how consumers would wish to consume
them. My favorite was that the Tesla Roadster wasn't the first electric car,
but it was the first that I could see myself buying at some point.

The nice thing about this being a feature of the watch is that the watch
brings a bunch of great stuff all on its own. That it can _also_ call
emergency services or diagnose Afib is like bonus time.

~~~
FireBeyond
> or diagnose Afib is like bonus time

Careful with that as an assumption:

> In people younger than 55, Apple Watch’s positive predictive value is just
> 19.6 percent. That means in this group — which constitutes more than 90
> percent of users of wearable devices like the Apple Watch — the app
> incorrectly diagnoses atrial fibrillation 79.4 percent of the time. (You can
> try the calculation yourself using this Bayesian calculator: enter 0.001 for
> prevalence, 0.98 for sensitivity, and 0.996 for specificity).

> The electrocardiogram app becomes more reliable in older individuals: The
> positive predictive value is 76 percent among users between the ages of 60
> and 64, 91 percent among those aged 70 to 74, and 96 percent for those older
> than 85.

(Source: [https://www.statnews.com/2019/01/08/apple-watch-iffy-
atrial-...](https://www.statnews.com/2019/01/08/apple-watch-iffy-atrial-
fibrillation-detector/))

That being said, I will not at all dispute the ECG tools as very valuable.

[https://www.ajmc.com/conferences/acc-2019/giant-study-
sugges...](https://www.ajmc.com/conferences/acc-2019/giant-study-suggests-
apple-watch-accurately-catches-afib) \- discusses the findings in the context
of the Apple Health "Study" announced at one of their events.

~~~
saagarjha
In this case, it's better to have a false positive diagnosis than a false
negative.

~~~
jessaustin
Why is that? IANAPhysician, but this seems like a fairly rare malady in this
age group. Do we really want all of these people rushing to the hospital? If
no one trusts the Apple Watch's diagnosis, how useful could it be?

~~~
saagarjha
I think the rate is low enough that most people are not getting multiple
spurious notifications to rush to the hospital, so trust is probably not the
issue. The only problem I see is hospitals being overwhelmed, but again, I'm
not sure if we're really overloading them.

~~~
jessaustin
Sure, most people are not going to hospital at the suggestion of their Apple
watch. However, of those who _do_ go to hospital, nearly all are false
positives. This will lead hospital staff to distrust the Apple watch. It may
not have that effect on Apple watch owners...

------
yitchelle
How long before the other watch makers (Samsung, Fossil, Casio, Seiko etc)
starts to have these type of features?

I am asking this because these type of features should be pervasive and be
widely adopted by those at risk.

The more watch makers that has these features the better.

------
intrasight
I bought an Apple Watch when a friend of mine showed me the EKG function. Also
bought an iPhone. Realized that this is the future for us all, so I bought a
lot of Apple stock.

------
gesman
Can Apple watch be programmed to call relative in case of hard fall /
unresponsiveness like this?

I have elderly father in Eastern Europe and he would really benefit from this.

~~~
blang
It looks like it also sent a text to his son.

~~~
gesman
Also does Apple Watch require ownership of iPhone?

~~~
abawany
As I mention above, the way I did this was to buy a low-
cost/locked/unactivated iPhone 6s and paired the watch to it. It thus provides
in-home monitoring of such events; I can confirm that it works well since it
got inadvertently activated a couple of times (the first watchOS version with
this feature seemed to be prone to false positives) and I had to talk to the
emergency agent on her behalf to state that everything was ok for now.

~~~
gesman
Can I have one iPhone (in USA) and two watches - one in USA (me), another in
Europe with my dad attached to local European SIM card to call local European
number if he falls?

~~~
abawany
I don't think so unfortunately - the cellular watches are weird in that they
must be on the same cellular network as the associated iphone. The recipe I
suggested above works with the non-cellular version of the watch and counts on
being on the same wireless network as the phone. So imo, you will need one
iphone per watch. However, I have been able to get refurbished iphone 6s
devices for as little as $60; you probably don't want anything older than 6s
as it is the oldest device that can still run iOS 13 and thus future proof for
just a little bit.

~~~
jacobush
And iPhone SE ? Mine runs 13.1

~~~
abawany
You are right - that should work well as well I believe due to its 6s
internals. It's a good idea too: in the US the SE can be found even cheaper
than the 6s.

------
germinalphrase
This is wonderful.

Now - I just want that hydration sensor that was teased a while back. So many
health conditions that accurate information about hydration could assist.

------
lawlorino
Boy I'm sure he was relieved he had his APPLE WATCH™ with him. I am sure we
are all imagining right now how horrible things would be for us and our
families if we were in such circumstances without an APPLE WATCH™. Good thing
black friday and Christmas are coming up so I can gift all my loved ones an
APPLE WATCH™ just in case, not doing so would clearly be negligent and
uncaring on my part.

~~~
Austin_Conlon
Why is it so bothersome that technology that helped someone has a brand?

~~~
lawlorino
It's not that, my problem is it's an article which is basically an advert
which at the time of writing is top of the front page with +800 upvotes and
full of comments talking about how great the product is. Talk about "Hacker"
"News".

------
fortran77
One nice thing about GMs "On Star" is it will call for help automatically if
there's been an airbag deploy. I was very surprised that other car
manufacturers didn't start doing the same thing when GM did (they've had this
feature for at least 15 years) given how cheap cell phone technology is and
how the sensors to deploy airbags are reliable and in every car.

------
cabaalis
What if you come home after a bad day in a bad mood and throw your watch down
on the nightstand? Will an ambulance show up at your house?

~~~
wayneftw
Yeah or like, what if you just fall and decide to stay laying down for a
minute but you’re actually fine?

I wonder if the fall has to happen in combination with some other health
metrics that it senses? Does there even need to be a falling down? What if you
have a heart attack while you’re strapped into your parked car and you don’t
fall? Does it call then?

~~~
Watabou
WSJ tested some of these scenarios:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xI2dUPN3A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xI2dUPN3A)

Seems very hard to trigger inadvertently, so it makes sense to me that they
use an algorithm that factors in the heart rate and the fall trajectory and
velocity.

------
locusofself
I saw this story, but didn't know it was in my hometown and current city of
Spokane, WA (~200k people, growing city). Very cool. The hill where he fell is
the crux of our annual Bloomsday race (running/walking/wheelchair, 12km) which
~50k participants each year. Hence the name "doomsday hill" in the article.

------
stickfigure
Keep your DocWagon(tm) contract paid up, chummer!

~~~
orwin
Best healthcare provider in the UCAS!

------
samstave
If you get into an accident, and the connection to your phone is lost, this
wont work.

Phone destroyed or dead battery and no call correct?

------
PovilasID
If you live in country where emergency services number is not 911 there is
sometimes a forward from 911 to the local number like 112 or phone may detect
the local emergency services number. Problem is that not all countries have
location detection for emergency calls.

------
buboard
Someone should post about how many lives the car safety measures have saved. I
bet it will get 800 upvotes too

~~~
Austin_Conlon
“Appreciate mundanity: after all, a pencil is high technology.” -Alan Kay

------
kyriakos
Apple watch seems to be a decent device but not supporting android means it's
not an option for most of us.

~~~
inimino
Samsung, Xiaomi, or Huawei will catch up on features eventually.

------
josefresco
Side story: I just bought an iPhone 11, and proceeded to put it into a new
case. During this process the phone tried to call 911 two times. The process
was only stopped when I hurriedly cancelled. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

------
known
Annual
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transthoracic_echocardiogram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transthoracic_echocardiogram)
tests are the best way to prevent heart attacks

~~~
Marsymars
Compared to exercise and diet? How is getting an TTE actionable to prevent
heart attacks?

------
frabbit
Why would people buy an expensive watch like this when a simple bicycle helmet
could save their life? Especially if it is a MIPS helmet (because the previous
non-MIPS ones apparently did not work despite all the claims they did)

------
jMyles
Am I the only one concerned about the possible repercussions (to the wearer, I
mean) of triggering a law enforcement response?

There have been multiple cases now where (American, obviously) Law Enforcement
have brutalized and injured people experiencing diabetic shock.

And what if the fall and unconsciousness is the result of illicit drug use?
Surely the wearer doesn't want a call to 911 to be the default behavior in
that case.

Does Apple act with greater discretion in jurisdictions where law enforcement
are known to be criminally brutal or corrupt? I suspect that the answer is
"no."

Since people of color experience a greater proportion of negative outcomes
from law enforcement contact, I surmise this feature is far more useful for
white people.

Don't get me wrong - it's a cool feature for sure. But until we untangle law
enforcement (and state brutality) from medical and fire response, it's
potentially a dangerous one for some users.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
> _There have been multiple cases now where (American, obviously) Law
> Enforcement have brutalized and injured people experiencing diabetic shock._

Those incidents are reprehensible and should never be forgotten, and I don't
intend to excuse them or the culture that enables them, but statistically they
are extremely rare. Even in the worst parts of America, in a medical emergency
you are better off with emergency treatment than not.

And if you don't want the watch to call 911, for whatever reason, you can turn
that feature off.

------
reaperducer
Can anyone tell me if this is a standard feature in all smart watches these
days, or just an Apple thing?

I have the Series Zero, which is now state of the ark, so I'm not really up on
what's widespread anymore.

~~~
TheRealSteel
There is an absolute gulf in quality and functionality between the Apple Watch
and other smart watches. It's not like the smartphone industry at all. Nobody
can compete with the Apple Watch and nobody is even vaguely trying.

~~~
sturmeh
There's one distinguishing flaw in the Apple Watch; you can only pair it with
an iPhone.

------
heedlessly2
My girlfriend has an Apple Watch. We wrestle and practice jiu-jitsu in bed
sometimes. When I was squeezing her wrists, the watch buzzed and asked if she
wanted to call 911.

~~~
frabbit
OK, Mr.{Ep|Wein}stein.

------
growlist
I'm amazed we don't have more of this already. I suspect some day everyone
will have a biometrics device uploading data constantly.

~~~
judge2020
That's the difference with Apple - I think health data can sync with iCloud
but it's e2e and is opt-in, not opt-out. By default, it's on-device only.

------
skc
This is an Apple product that literally sells itself

------
ernie24
Is this US only, or does it work in EU countries too? F.i. if I have a similar
accident in Poland, would it call 112?

------
quickthrower2
Anyone know of any force alarm emergency service automatic dials from a watch
or app (Apple or otherwise?).

~~~
thanatos_dem
I am having a hell of a time trying to parse that sentence. Can you rephrase?

~~~
bidluo
they're trying to ask if there's a chance for false alarm (i think)

~~~
abawany
The first watchOS version that had this monitoring built-in seemed to be prone
to false positives. However, the watch first asks you if you are ok and if you
do not acknowledge so in a few seconds, then it dials out.

~~~
MBCook
Right. The other day I accidentally slammed my watch into the wall and it
started asking me if I was OK. You have a chance to say that everything is
fine and that you don’t need help before it starts calling emergency services
and telling people you’re in trouble.

------
williamchangnpu
I know apple watch can do such things, I just dont like how they hype this, I
do think this is a soft sell, somehow apple is evil because they sent the
message that Apple watch can save your life, so people will buy it or discuss
it , it kind of become viral. while actually it doesn't guarantee it will
behave the same when you have a heart failure.

------
takeda
So he already got unreleased Apple Watch? I thought that feature was just
announced.

~~~
perishabledave
Fall detection has been available since Series 4
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208944)

------
president
Curious - does Apple Watch call 911 if you flop onto bed and start napping
away?

~~~
giovannylira
It also considers your cardiac rhythm so I would think they trained their
model to consider it.

~~~
selimthegrim
My understanding is they are very specific about this not being able to detect
heart attacks - hence why I'm hesitant to speculate about the exact sequence
of events above

------
cyptus
so how does this work? does the apple watch use siri to say something via
phone or does your watch only starts a call and you need to speak? how is your
location transmitted technically?

------
commandlinefan
I genuinely wonder what it said when the 911 operator picked up.

~~~
DecoPerson
Me too, though it was probably an SMS, not a call. US emergency services
accept text messages.

The article says: "His watch messaged emergency medical services at 12:02
p.m., and an ambulance was there within a minute."

Though this seems to be contradicted by the previous paragraph: "His Apple
Watch had called 911 through the fall-detection feature, which sends out an
alert if the wearer is immobile for 60 seconds after a fall."

Edit: It makes a call, according to Apple's docs [0].

[0] [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208944)

~~~
djrogers
> Me too, though it was probably an SMS, not a call. US emergency services
> accept text messages.

Point of clarification - US Emergency services _can_ accept text messages.
Currently it's only available in certain areas, and it's up to each local
ESD/911 call center to implement it if they choose.

And yes - the apple watch does _call_ 911.

~~~
DecoPerson
Thank you for clarifying. I didn't think of the potential consequences of my
statement

------
OrgNet
couldn't any phone do this? they have so many sensors

------
ittan
I am happy that Bob is safe. We still need a smart watch that can function
using a battery or at a capacity of a normal watch to make this event a bigger
success.

------
mhh__
An important system - reminds me of how where the F1 safety + medical car is
automatically scrambled if a crash is > 20G on impact.

------
sabujp
are there other devices that do this that don't cost an arm and a leg?

------
mortdeus
so i guess the watch made it?

------
mandeepj
“It just works”

------
loeg
> Then his helmeted head hit the ground so hard it knocked him unconscious —
> hard enough for his Apple Watch to feel it.

> “A hit that hard could have killed me if I weren’t wearing it,” Burdett
> said. _He had to replace the helmet._

Letter to the editor: the last sentence is a non-sequitur. You have to replace
a bike helmet any time it takes an impact, even if it isn't "so hard," because
even if it doesn't look damaged the foam may be compressed and useless for a
future crash.

~~~
jguimont
Same goes for child car seats. Some manufacturer actually replace them for
free last time I checked.

~~~
toomuchtodo
If in a car accident, your auto insurance will cover the replacement cost.
Ensure you include it in the claim.

~~~
mcny
Speaking of car seats, Steven Levitt did this talk eleven years ago.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um5gMZcZWm0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um5gMZcZWm0)

The gist of it is that car seats do not help nearly as much as we hope. I got
the impression that there ought to be a car with a built-in, non-removable car
seat would work better. I'd imagine this would be an instant hit in the SUV
market. However, no automaker seems to take up on the challenge. Is there a
legislative obstacle that prevents automakers from doing this?

~~~
macintux
Unless you’re leasing, I don’t think parents would be thrilled to have a seat
unusable after a few years. And even if you are, sometimes you’re transporting
people or large items other than your child.

People want safety, but they also don’t expect to actually be in a serious
accident.

------
webwielder2
Why does everyone who praises Apple on HN qualify it with the fact that they
don’t like Apple for other reasons? Also, Apple is probably the best corporate
citizen of any company its relative size in history.

~~~
CobrastanJorji
It's not specific to this place. It's an effective persuasive argument
technique. Say you want to praise Apple for something. Since praising Apple to
Apple fans is preaching to the choir, your target is people who are not
currently huge Apple fans. So, you begin by saying "hi, I am one of you, a
person who isn't a big Apple fan." Now that you've established yourself as a
member of the in-group, you drop your argument, "this aspect of Apple is
good." Maybe you qualify it with "pretty good" to keep from tripping any
alarms.

Note: that's not to say that the speaker is being in any way deceptive. People
naturally evolve and reinvent more effective speech patterns, often
unconsciously.

~~~
chii
aka, virtue signaling.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
It isn't technically virtue signing since it's meant to be persuasive.

The post further down (well, up now) that's calling attention to the fact that
the guy should replace his helmet because he used it (something that is common
knowledge for most people young enough to only have worn single use helmets
and is literally printed on the helmet and packaging) is a better example of
virtue signaling since it states something basically everyone already accepts
as fact and is only tangentially related to the article in the first place.

Unfortunately, the term virtue signaling has taken on a political meaning so
you can't say it and expect the internet even if you mean it in the technical
sense.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
You say it’s a non sequitur and immediately restate the necessity to replace a
helmet that’s taken an impact.

I don’t reckon that’s how a non sequitur works:

A non sequitur is a conclusion or reply that doesn't follow logically from the
previous statement.

~~~
loeg
In TFA, the (quoted) preceding sentences are repeatedly accentuating the
_severity_ of the crash and directly implying that the severity is the reason
for the replacement. The severity has has nothing to do with the need to
replace the helmet, i.e., it does not follow logically.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
No, a non sequitur would go something like this:

Bob was plantings some flowers. He had to replace his helmet.

Not a non sequitur:

Bob crashed his motorbike. He had to replace his helmet.

It might have been better if they’d written something about how a helmet needs
replacing after any impact, sure.

~~~
hathawsh
This is an interesting logic discussion. :-) Does the term _non sequitur_
apply to correctly formed statements where the conclusion of the statement is
incorrect? I would be inclined to agree with TheSpiceIsLife and say no.
Because the article is based on limited sources, the article's conclusion
about helmet replacement is incorrect, even if it's well-formed.

EDIT: Here's an interesting list of non sequiturs, many of which fit the same
pattern as the article. I think loeg is probably right after all.

[https://examples.yourdictionary.com/non-sequitur-
examples.ht...](https://examples.yourdictionary.com/non-sequitur-
examples.html)

------
hartator
Arf I want one now

------
deeteecee
and ill still be this bitter dude who doesn't want the 911 call to happen even
when im unconscious. :(

~~~
JshWright
You probably won't enable this feature then...

------
justcontent
All the more reason for Apple to do everything it takes to make the Apple
Watch work with Android.

~~~
vlozko
This makes little sense. You’re imposing your sense of morality on an entity
that is not beholden to the public good of mankind. If you want that that kind
of service for everyone for betterment reasons, then demand your legislators
to have the government invest in such a technology and have them distribute
it. If Apple wants to do something for more reasons, that’s their prerogative.
It’s no different than demanding that drug companies relinquish all patents on
life saving drugs so that availability is greater and the product is cheaper
while being dismissive of the development costs and efforts to get there.

------
smolder
This kind of story that leverages tragedy to build brand value is repulsive to
me. The intent is arguable but it reeks of manipulative advertising.

~~~
smolder
Dear downvoters, why is this an article about Apple watch and not wearable
tech generally?

~~~
rimliu
Because that was Apple watch and not wearable tech generally? I had and loved
my Withings Steel HR watch, but it cannot do this. Nor can most of the
"wearable tech".

------
gowld
Headline is misleading.

The watch detects falls and calls 911 based on that, not based on
"unconscious".

~~~
ajoy
I disagree. When Apple Watch detects an event that it considers as a fall, it
asks the wearer if he/she is ok. Failure to respond then triggers the 911
call. So being unconscious had a lot to do with it.

------
mikestew
Alternate headline: “Potentially Life-saving Tech Works as Advertised”. I
know, I know, it’s a human interest story _and_ the regular folks might not
know this. But my first thought reading the headline was, “it better call, or
I’m going to be puzzling how to get a refund in the afterlife.”

~~~
twiceaday
This is one seemingly tiny, new feature of the device. He might not have
bought the device for this feature, or even have known that it was there. Or
rather, the people reading might have not bought the device for this feature,
or even have known that it was there. I think this is what makes the story
popular enough to be going around.

~~~
ogre_codes
FWIW, unless you are over 60 it's not enabled by default. Presumably this is
to minimize false alarms, but if you want this feature enabled, you should
make certain it's enabled.

Here's how: [https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208944](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944)

~~~
saagarjha
s/over 60/under 65/?

~~~
JshWright
The correct answer (per the docs) is "over 65".

~~~
saagarjha
Right, I missed the "unless" in my replacement.

------
sova
Don't forget to wear your watch! You've got wife and kids for cryin' out loud!
Never leave home without wearing a watch! Or maybe just get a really good
helmet and don't bike down "Doomsday Hill" lmao

------
bsaul
and soon, people will be scared to even consider going for a jog without a
device like that on their wrist.

The more time passes the more i realize how much the saying « the road to hell
is paved with good intentions » is true.

~~~
frabbit
It seems highly likely to me that the Culture of Fear that pervades affluent
western societies will exactly lead to what you predict.

And those of us that do not wear a permanent tracking device will have some
sort of financial (insurance rates) and emotional punishments (peer
pressure/blackmail) inflicted on us.

Speaking for myself, I'm ready to die when its time. If my body is so weak and
knackered that I cannot even go for a bike ride without medical assistance
then I reckon it's time to shuffle off this mortal coil and make way for
someone else.

~~~
scottlamb
I can understand why you'd feel the risk of such an event is sufficiently low
that it's not worth buying/charging/wearing a "permanent tracking device",
particularly if you also feel it doesn't respect your privacy adequately. And
I agree our collective tolerance to risk is going down over time. But I'm
curious about this part of your comment:

> Speaking for myself, I'm ready to die when its time. If my body is so weak
> and knackered that I cannot even go for a bike ride without medical
> assistance then I reckon it's time to shuffle off this mortal coil and make
> way for someone else.

This could happen because of a hit-and-run driver or because of some other
temporary medical condition; either might be completely resolved with the
right treatment. I think a better way to look at it is about your quality of
life afterward. If you're terminally ill or of very advanced age with a poor
prognosis for recovery, then I can see why you'd want a "do not resuscitate"
order, would disable this feature, etc. Otherwise why not get help?

~~~
frabbit
Agree about the quality of life afterwards being the most important issue. I
have seen too many people who have lingered "alive". I suspect that if I get
knocked down then there is a dichotomy of outcomes: 1) unpleasant, painful,
survivable, not time-critical, not life-changing 2) major trauma, life can be
saved with a time-critical intervention. Prognosis post-event is for a
decreased quality of life. Would probably die if left without unusually quick
ER.

I can only see the watch being useful for #2: the exact situation where I
think it would be better that I die.

------
frabbit
_Then his helmeted head hit the ground so hard it knocked him unconscious —
hard enough for his Apple Watch to feel it.

“A hit that hard could have killed me if I weren’t wearing it,” Burdett said.
He had to replace the helmet._

Sigh. Bicycle helmets prevent neither concussions nor death: by design,
according to all epidemiological studies and according to the manufacturers of
bicycle helmets.

[https://www.badscience.net/2013/12/bicycle-helmets-and-
the-l...](https://www.badscience.net/2013/12/bicycle-helmets-and-the-law-a-
perfect-teaching-case-for-epidemiology/)

Bike helmets are probably useful in reducing a tiny subset of head injuries.

And this is yet another anecdote proving the opposite of what the true
believers think.

Sometimes I despair, then I think of this
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCL4dXUtblg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCL4dXUtblg)

~~~
sdinsn
You are misrepresenting the research. The research is regarding the effect of
public policy (making it illegal to bike without a helmet) on bicycle
accidents.

> With regard to the use of bicycle helmets, science broadly tries to answer
> two main questions... “what is the effect of a public health policy that
> requires or promotes helmets?” and... “what is the effect of wearing a
> helmet?”

> __The linked paper by Dennis and colleagues investigates the policy question
> __and concludes that the effect of Canadian helmet legislation on hospital
> admission for cycling head injuries “seems to have been minimal

~~~
frabbit
I am not misrepresenting the paper: it attempts to explain why countries with
mandatory helmet laws see _no_clearly_measurable_reduction in KSI (Killed,
Seriously Injured) rates.

More cyclists wear helmets in those jurisdictions (parts of Canada, all of
Australia and N.Z.) and yet ecological studies fail to clearly demonstrate any
benefit from helmets. If you sprayed a field with RoundUp and saw no
difference in the number of weeds compared to an unsprayed field you would
start to wonder about the effects of the treatment.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
> _I am not misrepresenting the paper: it attempts to explain why countries
> with mandatory helmet laws see _no_clearly_measurable_reduction in KSI
> (Killed, Seriously Injured) rates._

And in doing so, it goes to some effort to explain why you cannot, from that,
conclude that helmets have no effect on individual accident outcomes, all
other things being equal. (Mainly because all other things _aren 't_ equal,
and it's very difficult to devise a methodology that makes them so.)

~~~
snowwrestler
> it goes to some effort to explain why you cannot, from that, conclude that
> helmets have no effect on individual accident outcomes

Right. A friend who's an ER doctor once put it this way:

"I'm going to hit you in the head with a hammer; you can wear a bike helmet or
not, your choice."

Statistics are all well and good, but it would take a rare allegiance to
epidemiology to skip the helmet.

I've also heard it said that statistics look different when you are the
statistic...

~~~
shkkmo
Nobody is saying that you shouldn't wear a helmet. The point is that Helmets
are at best only a marginally effective public policy to make cyclists safer.

> an emphasis on helmets reflects a seductively individualistic approach to
> risk management (or even “victim blaming”) while the real gains lie
> elsewhere. It is certainly true that in many countries, such as Denmark and
> the Netherlands, cyclists have low injury rates, even though rates of
> cycling are high and almost no cyclists wear helmets. This seems to be
> achieved through interventions such as good infrastructure; stronger
> legislation to protect cyclists; and a culture of cycling as a popular,
> routine, non-sporty, non-risky behaviour.

------
anonu
How probable is it that Apple planted this article? Its great marketing after
all.

EDIT: to the downvoters: question everything.

~~~
spookthesunset
> "question everything"

Man, when I was an edgy teenager I questioned everything. But then I grew up,
had a family and you know what.... I ain't got time to question everything.
Even if I spent all my time questioning everything, what would I gain? I
couldn't possibly get answers to 99% of the things I question. I can't be an
expert in everything.

So whats the point in questioning everything? Who gives a shit if this was a
"stealth article" by Apple, the CIA or the Coca Cola Bottling Company. What
difference does it make to me? None whatsoever.

These days I try to be very careful what things I spend my time & energy on.

------
bt848
Apple marketing machine in action: get local press to write up as a novelty
feature that main competitor has had for ages.

~~~
amiantos
Please name this competitor that had fall detection ('for ages') that
automatically messages emergency services for you?

~~~
bt848
Garmin. You know, the brand that is 100x more popular among bicyclists.

~~~
Izkata
This reads as though Apple did it first:
[https://fortune.com/2019/01/07/garmin-vivoactive-cellular-
sm...](https://fortune.com/2019/01/07/garmin-vivoactive-cellular-smartwatch/)

~~~
FireBeyond
Kinda. The part that they're referring to is it being Garmin's first device
with cellular capability. But it's definitely vague around fall monitoring
too.

~~~
Izkata
I'm referring to this sentence, which has nothing to do with cellular
capability:

> Like the latest Apple Watch, which has a built-in fall detection system, the
> new Garmin watch also has a safety monitoring feature, which the company
> calls incident detection.

