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Wash. man credits Apple Watch with saving dad’s life

The feature picked up the hard fall that Bob Burdett sustained and alerted 911, who located him and transported him to a hospital

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Photo/Gabe Burdett, Facebook

By EMS1 Staff

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington man credits the Apple Watch’s “fall detection” feature for saving his father’s life after he experienced a life-threatening fall.

Gabe Burdett was supposed to meet his father at Riverside State Park for mountain biking, but Bob Burdett never made it, News 9 reported.

Instead, Gabe Burdett received a notification from his father’s Apple Watch that read: “Emergency SOS Bob Burdett called emergency services from this approximate location after Apple Watch detected a hard fall.”

In a Facebook post, Gabe Burdett described the incident. His father fell from his bike and hit his head, losing consciousness. His Apple Watch alerted emergency crews, and within 30 minutes he was being transported by ambulance to a hospital.

https://www.facebook.com/theburdetts/posts/10214583646975103

“It’s been an amazing tool ... You think of fall protection as something like falling off a ladder, but not for doing something you do all the time,” Gabe Burdett said in an interview.

Gabe Burdett is now urging all those with an Apple Watch to ensure they have this feature turned on.

“IF YOU OWN AN APPLE WATCH, set up your HARD FALL detection—it’s not just for when you fall off a roof or a ladder,” he wrote in the Facebook post. “Had he fallen somewhere on the High Drive trails or another remote area, the location would have clued EMS in on where to find him. Amazing technology and so glad he had it!”

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