The Apple Watch’s amazing life-saving abilities continues. This time, the beneficiary is a Chicago-based Apple Watch owner who used the device’s SOS Mode after being knocked off his jet ski.
Phillip Esho was “hundreds of feet from shore” in Lake Michigan when he was hit with a big wave. Having lost his phone, and being knocked about, the Apple Watch came to his rescue.
A report for WBBM NewsRadio notes that:
“[Esho] said his Apple Watch has an emergency call feature which allowed him to reach 9-1-1 but he wasn’t sure if the call worked because he couldn’t understand what the dispatcher was saying. [At one point the call was also disconnected.]
He was able to reconnect with 9-1-1 but by then he says a helicopter and Chicago police and fire boats had already arrived to rescue him.”
Esho says he would have had no way to get help had he not been wearing his Apple Watch.
The life-saving killer app
The life-saving abilities of the Apple Watch have (ironically given the name) become the device’s “killer app.” Barely a week goes by without us hearing about some potentially life-saving incident.
Much of the time, these stories focus on the device’s heart-reading ECG tech. This heart-reading tech has alerted many people to irregular heartbeats and made them visit emergency rooms. In other cases, it’s the “fall detection” abilities that help. Last month, we wrote about an 87-year-old woman who wore an Apple Watch. It called emergency services after she was involved in a car accident.
The SOS mode is, as today’s story shows, another life-saver. It lets you call emergency services, notify a friend, and track your location — all from your wrist. For an article explaining how this feature works, check out this piece by my colleague, Charlie Sorrel.
Have you had any near misses where the Apple Watch has come to your rescue? Let us know in the comments below.
