Please Turn On The "Fall Detection" Feature (It could save your life one day)

[Apple_Robert]

I encourage those of you with the series 4 or series 5 watch to turn on the "Fall Detection" feature and leave it on.

Many of you may think that because you are not middle age or older, the feature really doesn't apply to you. In my opinion, you should remove that kind of thinking from your mind.

The fall detection could possibly save your life (or a loved one) one day. You could suffer a heart attack, have a unforeseen physical accident like a car wreck, or be the victim of a robbery or physical attack of some kind that leaves you unable to stand.

With the many features the Apple Watch has, the one that you may need the most, is probably the one you have not turned on.

 

[artfossil]

Right on, brother.

Gravity doesn't care how young or old you are.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Always got mine on

 

[Pseudo-Fed]

Why not? And if your HIIT workouts, boot camp, etc. sets it off, you can always disable.

 

[jaybar]

For some of us who are older, fall detection was the reason for getting the watch. Now that I got the watch, I see lots of benefits.

I suspect fall detection does little to drain the battery.

 

[revmacian]

Had mine turned on since day one and will leave it on. I had a car wreck years ago that taught me that we're never in control of everything.

 

[The Game 161]

You never know when it may need it..

 

[jaybar]

Yup.

you never know.

 

[Itinj24]

This feature is legit. Just yesterday I was ice skating with the kids and as I was skating backwards, got blind sided from behind my legs and upended. Fell flat on my back. I was fine but fall detection worked as advertised and I was able to cancel the call to emergency services from the watch face. Nice! Apple should leave this on by default for everyone. How many AW users are aware of this feature?

 

[drewaz]

I'm thinking about getting an AW just for this feature. If fall detection is triggered and you are not able to respond to prompts on the watch and EMS is summoned ..... how do they know your precise location? Does it work if you are using your iPhone for the cell connection?

 

[DeepIn2U]

Great tip.

so many post and yet NOBODY posts HOW to turn it on for others?

How to set up and use fall detection on Apple Watch

With fall detection, Apple Watch users have some peace of mind. When a fall occurs, the watch can help you reach out to your emergency contacts and personnel.

www.imore.com

some tips on enabling fall detection, emergency contact list (do NOT just add your next of kin; especially if they live out of city, state/province/country as they may be slower in getting the call and detecting local public emergency).

when the S2 launch I stipulated Apple Watch would take this feature as a key part of the overall hardware set.

Those of us that live in heavy winter areas - with lots of snow and ice should enable this. It's not like we wear helmets as we walk. Also consider getting hit by a car during the winter were it may not have all-seasons/winter tires or poor breaks can cannot break adequately. you'll still be hit, and still fall or twirl in the air.

@op good reminder on a good tip!

 

[akash.nu]

I never had it turned on but considering for sure.

 

[LizKat]

Yet another reason to resume pointing out to Congress that leaving deployment of cellular and broadband access largely to the "free market" continues to make second class citizens out of millions of Americans in rural areas. I'd love to have an AW able to "phone it in" if I fall down outside on a wintry day and don't get up again and say goshdarnit and kill the emergency call. But there's no voice at the end of the line for me because there's not much there there as far as non-landline-based telecomms go in these mountains. I settle for letting the paper ride out a chilly night on its lonesome in the box, if a wintry day suggests skipping a trip to the road for the papers and mail. Oh well. Gives me plenty time to write another letter to the congress critter.

 

[jaybar]

My orthodontist suggested I get the AW after two falls.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I'm thinking about getting an AW just for this feature. If fall detection is triggered and you are not able to respond to prompts on the watch and EMS is summoned ..... how do they know your precise location? Does it work if you are using your iPhone for the cell connection?

Yes, it will work as long as you have a paired connection with the phone, if you don’t have a LTE watch.
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This feature is legit. Just yesterday I was ice skating with the kids and as I was skating backwards, got blind sided from behind my legs and upended. Fell flat on my back. I was fine but fall detection worked as advertised and I was able to cancel the call to emergency services from the watch face. Nice! Apple should leave this on by default for everyone. How many AW users are aware of this feature?

I doubt a lot of people are aware, outside of us tech nerds.

 

[Ericdjensen]

Don’t know why anyone would have it off. I’m 24 and I have it on. Why not?

 

[jaybar]

Don’t know why anyone would have it off. I’m 24 and I have it on. Why not?

Reminder of aging. Young people often feel “invincible”.

 

[Duncan68]

Don’t know why anyone would have it off. I’m 24 and I have it on. Why not?

The "I've fallen and I can't get up!" TV commercials that aired many years ago have created stigma around this subject.

(I have it on myself, of course.)

 

[artfossil]

The "I've fallen and I can't get up!" TV commercials that aired many years ago have created stigma around this subject.

(I have it on myself, of course.)

If you research "medical alert systems" (and I did) you will quickly realize that an Apple Watch provides so much more, and at a much lower price. The peace of mind I have with my Watch (with cellular) far, far outweighs my monthly cellular fee. It is just sad that seniors (or those who care for them) settle for so much less.

 

[oeagleo]

One nice feature that I don't see here, is that if you have an LTE watch, in the US, it will automagically call emergency services even if you don't have it connected to a carrier. That is the reason that I purchased the LTE version of the watch, I can't, and don't want to call anyone on the watch, but I DO like the idea that if I wind up horizontal, and become vertical, the watch will summon help. The days of "I've fallen and can't get up" are over!

 

[TheRedOx]

I didn't realize that it was a feature to opt-in to. I was wondering why I've fallen a couple of times on my mountain bike and my S4 didn't do anything.

 

[rockyroad55]

It’s under emergency sos section on the Apple Watch app on iOS.

 

[JT2002TJ]

A buddy of mine had a false alarm. He was on his motorcycle (didn't fall), it went off and triggered an alert to his emergency contacts (with GPS location), who knew he was on his motorcycle. They thought he went down because he wasn't answering his phone. Police were contacted, it freaked out the entire family (he was on a 3 hour trip).

Not to discourage people from using it, just be aware that false alarms can really freak out your loved ones. He has a new baby, his wife thought he was dead until he finally pulled over and noticed all the missed calls.

 

[MisterSavage]

Not to discourage people from using it, just be aware that false alarms can really freak out your loved ones. He has a new baby, his wife thought he was dead until he finally pulled over and noticed all the missed calls.

This. I think I read that one of the reasons it's not on by default for younger people is that younger people are more likely to do things that would cause a false alarm. I haven't turned it on because I was a concerned about the G-forces on coasters. I probably wouldn't remember to turn it off before I went on one and might not notice that it was going off during a ride.

 

[jaybar]

A buddy of mine had a false alarm. He was on his motorcycle (didn't fall), it went off and triggered an alert to his emergency contacts (with GPS location), who knew he was on his motorcycle. They thought he went down because he wasn't answering his phone. Police were contacted, it freaked out the entire family (he was on a 3 hour trip).

Not to discourage people from using it, just be aware that false alarms can really freak out your loved ones. He has a new baby, his wife thought he was dead until he finally pulled over and noticed all the missed calls.

Fall positives can happen with any technology. However, a post like this, discourages people from turning it on. Hot a great idea.