fall detection

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on fall detection:

Apple Watch saves Florida woman’s life by calling 911 after hard fall

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Apple Watch fall detection works on Series 4 and Series 5.
Apple Watch fall detection can save you if you’re knocked unconscious.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Raylene Hackenwerth received an Apple Watch as a gift.. a gift that she says saved her life. The wearable called 911 for her after it detected she had taken a very bad fall. And that’s just the start.

Fall detection is a feature of every model since Apple Watch Series 4.

Apple Watch fall detection calls 911 for unconscious man

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Apple Watch fall detection works on Series 4 and Series 5.
Apple Watch fall detection can save you if you’re knocked unconscious.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

911 services in a suburb of Phoenix reportedly received a call from a computer-generated voice telling them someone had fallen and wasn’t responding. The call came from an Apple Watch that detected its wearer was in trouble. EMTs rushed to the location given by the wearable and found an unconscious man.

Automatically calling for help after a bad fall is a feature of recent watchOS models. But users need be sure Apple Watch fall detection is activated.

Wicked bike wreck shows importance of Apple Watch hard fall detection

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fall detection
An Apple Watch can call 911 if you trip, slip, or wipe out so severely you knock yourself unconscious.
Photo: Apple

Bob Burdett was mountain biking near Spokane, then the next thing he knew he was waking up in an ambulance. He’d had a crash so severe he was knocked unconscious for a considerable amount of time. Fortunately, his Apple Watch called 911 for him.

Samsung’s new wearable steals Apple Watch 4’s hottest features

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Apple Watch Meidcare
That includes a life-saving ECG app.
Photo: Apple

Samsung’s newest wearable will steal some of Apple Watch Series 4’s hottest features. The upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2 is expected to get an ECG app as well as fall detection.

The device will be capable of detecting atrial fibrillation — a common heart condition — and of sharing heart data with physicians and other health professionals, a new report claims.

Apple Watch fall detection helps 87-year-old woman after car accident

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fall detection
Fall detection was introduced with the Apple Watch Series 4.
Screenshot: Apple

The Apple Watch Series 4’s fall detection feature has been credited with potentially helping save an 87-year-old woman’s life after a car accident.

Maine octogenarian Dotty White was on her way back from grocery shopping when she was involved in a collision. Fortunately, her trusty Apple wearable was on hand (literally) to help.

Apple Watch helps save 80-year-old woman in Germany

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fall detection
Fall detection was one of the big features introduced with the Apple Watch Series 4.
Photo: Apple

The ECG feature on the Apple Watch Series 4 gets the lion’s share of headlines about potentially life-saving incidents. However, it’s the wearable’s fall-detecting ability which is the hero of the latest story of this kind.

In Munich, Germany, an 80-year-old woman fell in her apartment. Fortunately, her Apple Watch recognized what had happened and called emergency services.

New Apple Watch videos highlight fall detection and heart notifications

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Fall detection ad from Apple
Fall detection could be a lifesaver for some Apple Watch wearers.
Photo: Apple

Apple came out with two new how-to videos for the Apple Watch today, showing customers how to take advantage of some of the new features introduced last year.

The two videos cover how to turn on heart health notifications and fall detection. Each video is only 30 seconds long and shows how to activate each feature in just three or four easy steps.

Watch them both right here:

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.

Apple Watch fall detection might get you arrested

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fall detection
If you're doing something illegal, you could take a fall for slipping up.
Photo: Apple

An Apple Watch Series 4 can detect if you’ve fallen and automatically call 911 to get your injuries tended to. Or get you arrested, depending on the circumstances.

That’s the warning of privacy watchdogs, who point out that 911 calls invite in more than just emergency medical personnel.

Apple Watch fall detection disabled by default … unless you’re old

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apple watch series 4
If you’re under 65, fall detection isn’t enabled.
Photo: Apple

Don’t just assume your new Apple Watch Series 4 will be there to help you when you drunkenly fall into a neighbor’s flowerbed on your way home from the bar. If you’re under 65, fall detection is disabled by default.

Here’s how to enable it to ensure your emergency contact knows when you’re in trouble.

Apple Watch Series 4 review: So good it’ll make your heart race

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Apple Watch Series 4 Infogram Watch Face
The Series 4 comes with some great new watch faces, like this information-packed Infograph face.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

I have a new best friend. It’s the Apple Watch Series 4. Boy, do I love this miraculous little machine.

The new Apple Watch really is wonderful. As with everything else, speed makes it so much more fluid and seamless. The display is gigantic and awesome! There’s so much technology packed inside, it’s a sci-fi marvel.

I took it for a long bike ride to test it out. Here’s what I found.