Apple Watch summons immediate help for man who fell through ice

A New Hampshire man was ice skating on a frozen river when he fell through the ice, but he was able to get help very close to instantly using his Apple Watch.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call minutes after William Rogers fell through the ice on Salmon Falls River in New Hampshire. He was skating on the ice and didn't realize the ice was thin enough to fall through.

"I remember telling myself, 'OK, don't panic. Don't panic,'" Rogers said. "Figure out what your options are here."

As the seconds passed and hypothermia was on the verge of setting in, he remembered he was wearing his Apple Watch, and he used it to call 911.

"So, I told them that I probably had 10 minutes before I was not gonna be able to respond anymore," he said.

The fire department that provided the rescue was able to arrive within five minutes of the call through the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch has been credited for helping people in multiple situations like dialing 911 after a car crash or detecting heart issues in one Ohio resident. The Apple Watch Series 6 even has a blood oxygen detector to alert users of low oxygen levels.

29 Comments

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

THAT is the beauty of the Apple Watch with LTE!

While many say "I'd never need that", the truth is that shit happens. And, it happens when and how you'd least expect it.

The Boy Scouts had it right: Better to be prepared than in trouble you can't get out of.

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

Twelve months ago my Apple Watch 6 notified me of a heart problem, so when I called my doctor she said to go to the emergency room immediately. I did that, and while I can't say definitively that I would be dead without my Apple Watch 6, I can say that I got the treatment I needed and that may have been a factor as to why I'm alive today.

pulseimages 652 comments · 8 Years

So can the Apple Watch dial 911 on it’s own if it’s sensed that you have fallen or must the user request 911?

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

pulseimages said:

So can the Apple Watch dial 911 on it’s own if it’s sensed that you have fallen or must the user request 911?
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208944

It dials automatically if you haven’t moved for a minute.

dope_ahmine 264 comments · 4 Years

Totally amazing if it actually succeeds with dialing automatically …cos my AW6 is dumb as a box-o-rox. My most typical usecases with it:

I'm out jogging and it tells me to take some time to do a breathing exercise.
I talk on the phone (iPhone) and it tells me to take some time to do a breathing exercise.
I'm outside in 13 m/s wind and it tells me to take some time to do a breathing exercise.
I've just sat down after standing up for half an hour, and it tells me to stand up for a minute.
I'm walking from the mail office with a box, and it asks me 100 times if I'm no longer on my outdoor walk. If I put the box down and swing my hand around like an idiot every 30 seconds, then it shuts up tho.
I'm cooking in the kitchen, and it tells me to wash my hands longer.
I'm listening to music in my headphones (at about 50% volume) when the watch sends me a notification at 200% volume(!!!). I've never even set the volume at 100%, not even once.
I'm reminded of an all-day calendar booking although I've never even had alerts set for it in the first place.
The Activity app says I have exercised 210% (since I've been out jogging) but I've only moved 34%. Jogging without moving? Hmmm… Also, I had only been standing 58%. So, I guess the watch assumed I was Outdoor Running while sitting/lying down and not moving …makes sense …not.
And here's my absolute fav: Software is not updated (ever) on the watch, although I've carefully checked the Automatic Updates. Why? Well, I always charge my watch between about 10 and 11 each evening, and then unplug it. A user behavior which apparently is totally outside Apple's imagination, or alternatively forbidden by them. Because an Apple Watch only updates its software if its plugged in to power at the time the WatchOS decides to try updating …which btw happens exactly at 03:00 in the morning.

I could go on and on ranting about the Apple Watch, but I guess you get the picture. This is not a smart watch. It's as dumb as it gets, cos it's entirely unaware of what I'm doing. It wouldn't even require AI to figure out how to deal with the use cases above. Good old linear logic programming would have done it. Do it again, and do it right, Apple. I know you are selling these watches in gazillions, and for pure business reasons maybe you shouldn't change a winning recipe. But I thought you said you were in it for the user experience.