Apple Watch fall detection

[Ready]

The latest version of the Apple Watch (Series 4) has a feature called fall detection, which detects if you have taken a hard fall, and calls 911 if you don’t respond within 60 seconds to let it know you are OK.

Well, today I took a really hard fall. I was on the pickleball court running backwards and lost my footing and landed very hard on the concrete. I don’t think I broke anything but I was pretty shaken up by it. I’m very sore in my neck and shoulders but I think I’ll be fine since nothing seems broken.

Anyway, I know there haven’t been that many people who have taken a hard fall while wearing a Series 4 Apple Watch, and I can confirm that it did detect my fall, and gave me sixty seconds to confirm I’m OK before lettting me know it was going to call 911. I let it know I was OK. It then asked me if I really fell, which I confirmed I did. I’m guessing it feeds that data back to Apple to let them know their algorithms for detecting a fall are working correctly.

So I was impressed that the watch did it’s job and was ready to call 911 if I needed it. Just thought I’d share in case anyone has an elderly person who might be susceptible to falling and could benefit from this feature.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow!

 

[Grey-son]

Do you have to have the iPhone on you for it to work?

 

[donheff]

I see there are some apps that run on the phone but they all have a pretty steep monthly fee. Some philanthropic organization should replicate the watch function and publish it as a free app that dials 911 instead of some service.

 

[audreyh1]

Do you have to have the iPhone on you for it to work?

I see there are some apps that run on the phone but they all have a pretty steep monthly fee. Some philanthropic organization should replicate the watch function and publish it as a free app that dials 911 instead of some service.

If the watch has the LTE feature, then the watch can call emergency 911 even if no data plan has been enabled. This has always been a feature of LTE watch models at no extra charge.

No, no steep monthly fee or special phone or watch app is required. This stuff is built in.

If you don’t have the watch LTE feature then you do need the phone nearby/within Bluetooth or WiFi range.

 

[Alan]

The latest version of the Apple Watch (Series 4) has a feature called fall detection, which detects if you have taken a hard fall, and calls 911 if you don’t respond within 60 seconds to let it know you are OK.

Well, today I took a really hard fall. I was on the pickleball court running backwards and lost my footing and landed very hard on the concrete. I don’t think I broke anything but I was pretty shaken up by it. I’m very sore in my neck and shoulders but I think I’ll be fine since nothing seems broken.

Anyway, I know there haven’t been that many people who have taken a hard fall while wearing a Series 4 Apple Watch, and I can confirm that it did detect my fall, and gave me sixty seconds to confirm I’m OK before lettting me know it was going to call 911. I let it know I was OK. It then asked me if I really fell, which I confirmed I did. I’m guessing it feeds that data back to Apple to let them know their algorithms for detecting a fall are working correctly.

So I was impressed that the watch did it’s job and was ready to call 911 if I needed it. Just thought I’d share in case anyone has an elderly person who might be susceptible to falling and could benefit from this feature.

Thanks for this info. I have had an Applewatch for less than a week now (Birthday gift from DD) and wondered how well this works. I'm pleased I didn't have to have a fall myself to see if it works.

I was at the heart unit this week for a follow up on a 24 hour monitor I had worn last week and they confirmed that the heart irregularities I sometimes see on my BP monitor are just delays between beats or the occasional ectopic beat.

I like that the watch is monitoring for AFib plus I can get an ekg on demand, add comments if I want, and that recording is stored and readily available to save or mail as a PDF.

I had an Ablation early October and no AFib incidents since then so fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for this info. I have had an Applewatch for less than a week now (Birthday gift from DD) and wondered how well this works. I'm pleased I didn't have to have a fall myself to see if it works.

I was at the heart unit this week for a follow up on a 24 hour monitor I had worn last week and they confirmed that the heart irregularities I sometimes see on my BP monitor are just delays between beats or the occasional ectopic beat.

I like that the watch is monitoring for AFib plus I can get an ekg on demand, add comments if I want, and that recording is stored and readily available to save or mail as a PDF.

I had an Ablation early October and no AFib incidents since then so fingers crossed it stays that way.

Just make sure it is enabled. It should be for someone 65 or older, but good to make sure. And that the emergency SOS stuff is up to date/has correct info.

 

[Alan]

Just make sure it is enabled. It should be for someone 65 or older, but good to make sure. And that the emergency SOS stuff is up to date/has correct info.

Thanks, yes I did all that to make sure it is all up to date. It was also a pleasure to remove the blood thinners from the medications list on the Medical ID screen on the iPhone.

 

[Midpack]

I don’t have an Apple Watch, but that’s a nice feature.

 

[Spock]

10 years or so ago a couple of co-workers and I attempted to patent a phone app to do this. If the feature becomes popular/widespread, I don't expect the feature to be around long due to false alarms called directly into 911. It will be modified to call a monitoring service or a friend list, but not direct dial 911. Some jurisdictions have started to charge alarm companies for the false alarms (alarm co uses the taxpayer funded police/fire dept as an extension of their company instead of dispatching their own car to check out an alarm).

Though detecting a pulse (the device is being worn and not falling off a table) + a 60 second waive-off logic is a good start to reduce false alarms... 10 years ago we didn't have the ability to conveniently detect a human pulse with a phone.

 

[Mdlerth]

The toughest part is finding matching shoes for my two left feet

How sensitive is this electronic nanny? How often will it initiate false alarms?

My own non-athleticism is worthy of highlight reels on ESPN (as evidenced by my never having achieved Olympic or NFL stardom). If I were to stumble while chewing gum it would NOT be unusual.

But it is unusual that I ever damage anything besides my dignity. I'm not certain that, instead of rubbing my elbow, my first thought would be quickly remembering to reassure my watch. I wouldn't want them to dispatch EMTs every time I'm clumsy.

Edited to add: Spock beat me to the punch.

 

[Ready]

If the watch has the LTE feature, then the watch can call emergency 911 even if no data plan has been enabled. This has always been a feature of LTE watch models at no extra charge.

No, no steep monthly fee or special phone or watch app is required. This stuff is built in.

If you don’t have the watch LTE feature then you do need the phone nearby/within Bluetooth or WiFi range.

That’s a nice feature, I forgot about that. It does require you buy the more expensive version of the watch with LTE though, which I think most people will not do if they don’t plan to activate cellular service. In addition, the watch will not be able to contact your emergency contacts at the end of the 911 call to notify them of your fall. I think it’s just a text message so if you are connected via Wifi it would probably still work. For me, I never have my phone on when I’m on the court so without cellular service the watch wouldn’t be very useful.

 

[braumeister]

How sensitive is this electronic nanny? How often will it initiate false alarms?

I believe you have to be immobile for a full minute after a fall before it calls.

I think it will also do its thing without the LTE feature if your phone is within range.

 

[audreyh1]

How sensitive is this electronic nanny? How often will it initiate false alarms?

My own non-athleticism is worthy of highlight reels on ESPN (as evidenced by my never having achieved Olympic or NFL stardom). If I were to stumble while chewing gum it would NOT be unusual.

But it is unusual that I ever damage anything besides my dignity. I'm not certain that, instead of rubbing my elbow, my first thought would be quickly remembering to reassure my watch. I wouldn't want them to dispatch EMTs every time I'm clumsy.

Edited to add: Spock beat me to the punch.

You can disable this feature. It’s not automatically enabled for folks under 65.

Otherwise you have a full minute to reassure your watch or whomever talks to you afterwards.

 

[audreyh1]

That’s a nice feature, I forgot about that. It does require you buy the more expensive version of the watch with LTE though, which I think most people will not do if they don’t plan to activate cellular service. In addition, the watch will not be able to contact your emergency contacts at the end of the 911 call to notify them of your fall. I think it’s just a text message so if you are connected via Wifi it would probably still work. For me, I never have my phone on when I’m on the court so without cellular service the watch wouldn’t be very useful.

Actually, I’m one of the folks who has the series 3 LTE feature but hasn’t ever subscribed to a data plan. So I expect there are plenty of us in that boat. There would also be folks who initially used a data plan but dropped it.

 

[zinger1457]

Good thing I wasn't wearing one on my recent ski trip, would have had emergency vehicles lined up in the parking lot.

 

[audreyh1]

Good thing I wasn't wearing one on my recent ski trip, would have had emergency vehicles lined up in the parking lot.

As long as you are conscious, you can dismiss it.

If you are not conscious, well......

 

[CitizenK]

A bicycle accident left me unconscious on the side of the road this summer, and caused ongoing balance and coordination issues. (now mostly resolved, thankfully.) This was pre-watch, and fortunately someone found me. So the fall detection feature was the selling point for me to get my Series 4 Apple Watch. I've read a ton about the watch, and it's supposed to be hard to fool it into a false positive - or is that "falls" positive? I'm glad I have it.

 

[mpeirce]

It does require you buy the more expensive version of the watch with LTE though, which I think most people will not do if they don’t plan to activate cellular service.

We bought the LTE version of the Apple watch for DD as a safety feature. She doesn’t pay for a data plan, but on her runs she call call 911 if she ever gets into a situation where that’s needed.

 

[zinger1457]

As long as you are conscious, you can dismiss it.

If you are not conscious, well......

It was meant as a joke on my poor skiing skills.

 

[braumeister]

Actually, I could see a potential problem there.

• If your watch is under layers of outerwear, as it might be while skiing
• you are wearing heavy gloves so you are incapable of manipulating the watch screen until you take them off
• and you're a bit stunned by the fall, taking a little time to collect yourself

then that minute might go by pretty fast and the 911 call would go through even if not necessary.

 

[audreyh1]

Actually, I could see a potential problem there.

• If your watch is under layers of outerwear, as it might be while skiing
• you are wearing heavy gloves so you are incapable of manipulating the watch screen until you take them off
• and you're a bit stunned by the fall, taking a little time to collect yourself

then that minute might go by pretty fast and the 911 call would go through even if not necessary.

If you are a bit stunned..... you may need assistance.

Otherwise you alway have the option of turning the feature off. But I’m not sure I’d want it off if I were out skiing by myself.

 

[Alan]

We bought the LTE version of the Apple watch for DD as a safety feature. She doesn’t pay for a data plan, but on her runs she call call 911 if she ever gets into a situation where that’s needed.

Yes, a useful feature is that you can call 911 just by resting your finger on the “dome” long enough.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have an Apple Watch 4 and have not yet enabled this (I am 64). I was talking with a 65 year old friend yesterday who does have it enabled and recently got the watch. She says she likes it except that it keeps thinking she is falling. She gave an example where she reached for something in her kitchen and the watch thought she had fallen and she had to dismiss it. She says she has had several false indications.

The problem with having to disable it within 1 minute is that I know I get a lot of alerts on my watch and sometimes I miss them or don't check immediately because I figure I can go check the alerts whenever. I would be worried I would miss an alert. I do think it is a nice feature though.

 

[Ready]

I have an Apple Watch 4 and have not yet enabled this (I am 64). I was talking with a 65 year old friend yesterday who does have it enabled and recently got the watch. She says she likes it except that it keeps thinking she is falling. She gave an example where she reached for something in her kitchen and the watch thought she had fallen and she had to dismiss it. She says she has had several false indications.

The problem with having to disable it within 1 minute is that I know I get a lot of alerts on my watch and sometimes I miss them or don't check immediately because I figure I can go check the alerts whenever. I would be worried I would miss an alert. I do think it is a nice feature though.

Something doesn’t sound right there. I am very active in sports and have never had a false alarm. I’ve even tried falling down onto a bed and not seen in activate. It wasn’t until I took a very hard fall that it went off for the first time. There may be a problem with her watch if it’s triggering over something as simple as reaching for an item in the kitchen. I don’t recall seeing anything complaints on the Internet forums about false alarms. Most articles I’ve read indicate that even when trying to simulate a fall they could not trigger the alarm to go off.