Apple Watch wearer saved by fall detection in Norway

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fall detection
The fall detection feature in Apple Watch Series 4 can distinguish between a fall, a trip and a slip.
Photo: Apple

The ECG on the Apple Watch Series 4 has made a lot of news for alerting some wearers to potentially fatal heart problems.

Now, the watch’s fall detection feature grabs its own hero headline.

A 67-year-old man in Norway was home alone when he fainted and suffered a hard fall in his bathroom that left him unconscious. There, he might have stayed had the Series 4 watch he was wearing not sent alerts to first responders.

The watch detects falls and sends out a help alert if it senses the wearer has been unresponsive for one minute.

Toralv Østvang suffered three fractures to his face. He was still unconscious when police arrived.

“It could have gone so much worse,” Østvang’s daughter, Dattern Kirsit Østvang, told the news site NRK. “All morning we asked, ‘What had happened if he hadn’t worn a smartwatch?’ He didn’t bring his mobile phone in the bathroom. It’s amazing that he got such quick help from the alarm until the police found him.

“It was a serious fall. Perhaps it saved his life.”

Fall detection reportedly saved at least one other person, according to the Apple news site, 9To5Mac. In October, an Apple Watch Series 4 sent out an alert after a user in Sweden fell after surfing a back injury.

Source: 9To5Mac

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