When the Apple Watch Series 4 was announced back in September, the company placed heavy focus on its new health-centric features. Not only can the smartwatch detect signs of heart disease, but it’ll also pick up when users have taken a tumble and offer to notify the emergency services.
Now it appears the fall detection feature, which leverages the wearable’s motion sensors to detect an unforeseen embrace with the ground, could have saved its first life. The Apple Watch Series 4 recently intervened on behalf of a man in Sweden with debilitating back pain, who collapsed at home while his kitchen stove was on.
Swedish publication Aftonbladet (via 9to5Mac) reports on the tale of Series 4 owner Gustavo Rodriguez, whose Apple Watch sprang into action after picking up on his fall.
Related: Best fitness trackers
Rodriguez said that after the pain rendered him unable to stand, his trusty smartwatch offered to put in a call to the Swedish emergency services. With his phone in another room, he then used his watch to call an ambulance and a relative to pop around and turn off his stove.
The report (via Google Translate) states:
Gustavo, 34, suffered a sudden back injury and fell paralyzed down to the kitchen floor. “It felt like someone pushed a knife in the back,” he says. Luckily, his watch responded.
On Friday, Gustavo Rodriguez stood at the stove as usual and cooked food. Suddenly he felt strange tension in his back and he became increasingly difficult to touch the body. Gustavo tried to think about it. “But then I would move the frying pan and then just hit it. It felt like someone pushed a knife in my back, says Gustavo.
He fell down on the floor. The pain was so strong that it looked black on his eyes. He could not move. Then the wrist pounded and asked “Do you want to call 112?”. “My Apple Watch had known the case and wondered if it would call an emergency call,” said Gustavo.”
In his review of the Apple Watch Series 4, Trusted Reviews mobile editor Max Parker praised the potentially life-saving additions within the new generation’s smartwatch.
He wrote: “Pair the updated design featuring that gorgeous screen with the vast array of (potentially) life-saving features and you’ve finally got a smartwatch that feels like something other than a luxury device missing a point.”
Have you purchased the Apple Watch Series 4? Share your favourite features with us @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
