Apple Watch alerts YouTuber to potential tachycardia

Joel Telling, who presents the YouTube channel "3D Printing Nerd," went to the emergency room after his Apple Watch Series 4 alerted him to an elevated heart rate.

In a series of tweets, YouTuber Joel Telling has recounted how an alert on his Apple Watch Series 4 resulted in his going to the ER. The Watch's health systems displayed a high heart rate notification, indicating that his heart rate had risen abnormally during a period without apparent exercise.

Last night was fun. This is me in the ER because of tachycardia, with a pulse over 120bpm. Heart tests are fun. pic.twitter.com/rYR8Ctfqn4
— Joel Telling - 3D Printing Nerd (@joeltelling) January 13, 2020

"Last night was fun," he said on Twitter, explaining how he'd gone to hospital because he had a pulse over 120bpm. "This is because my Apple Watch notified me of an elevated heart rate. This little device I wear on my wrist is amazing."

This is not the first time that Apple Watch has detected such abnormal heart rates and alerted the user. In February 2019, a nurse was taken to hospital by colleagues following such an alert.

Then in March 2019, a man alerted to tachycardia, or elevated heart rate, went to hospital where he began receiving treatment.

In the new case of "3D Printing Nerd" YouTuber Joel Telling, the cause was identified after a few hours with further hospital tests.

"Thankfully," continued Telling, "tests showed no pulmonary embolism, and no irregular heart electrical activity. Most likely this is from stress and dehydration from recent travel. Very VERY thankful to hear that because after a few bags of fluids, pulse was down."

"If you take anything from this - be mindful of your health and pay attention to any warning signs," he concluded.

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26 Comments

coolfactor 2333 comments · 20 Years

About 4 years ago

Looks like he's in the Kids Ward... with the paintings on the wall. :D

ITGUYINSD 547 comments · 5 Years

I'd verify it myself with my finger on my artery and a stopwatch first before believing it. I've found my AW3 almost always is wrong when I am doing a workout (walk). It starts out over 120bpm and takes at least 5 minutes before it settles down to the 70-80 range. It used to scare me but now I know it's just plain wrong.

sflocal 6135 comments · 16 Years

ITGUYINSD said:

I'd verify it myself with my finger on my artery and a stopwatch first before believing it. I've found my AW3 almost always is wrong when I am doing a workout (walk). It starts out over 120bpm and takes at least 5 minutes before it settles down to the 70-80 range. It used to scare me but now I know it's just plain wrong.

The article states that the high heart-rate was sudden, with no exercise. It's different from doing exercise, and one's heart rate goes up from that.

sflocal said:

ITGUYINSD said:

I'd verify it myself with my finger on my artery and a stopwatch first before believing it. I've found my AW3 almost always is wrong when I am doing a workout (walk). It starts out over 120bpm and takes at least 5 minutes before it settles down to the 70-80 range. It used to scare me but now I know it's just plain wrong.

The article states that the high heart-rate was sudden, with no exercise. It's different from doing exercise, and one's heart rate goes up from that.

Yeah, except for me, my rate goes down from 120bpm just walking across the street down to around 80 (which of course is wrong). I'm not questioning the guy had an actual event, just that I've found I can't trust my AW with regards to HR.

ITGUYINSD said:

sflocal said:

ITGUYINSD said:

I'd verify it myself with my finger on my artery and a stopwatch first before believing it. I've found my AW3 almost always is wrong when I am doing a workout (walk). It starts out over 120bpm and takes at least 5 minutes before it settles down to the 70-80 range. It used to scare me but now I know it's just plain wrong.

The article states that the high heart-rate was sudden, with no exercise. It's different from doing exercise, and one's heart rate goes up from that.

Yeah, except for me, my rate goes down from 120bpm just walking across the street down to around 80 (which of course is wrong). I'm not questioning the guy had an actual event, just that I've found I can't trust my AW with regards to HR.

I remember reading articles a while back about the AW's difficulty in monitoring vitals for certain people, particularly if the wearer has very hairy arms as one example.