The most recent report comes from Canada and a 62 year old man who was working outside hammering in a fence post. He reported that a flu-like feeling came over him and ultimately he checked his heart rate on his Apple Watch. What he saw caused him great concern and he told the guy next to him to call and ambulance.
The Apple Watch was registering 220 beats per minute which for anyone is extremely elevated. The doc at the hospital later told him that if he had ignored the warning from his watch and not immediately sought medical attention, its unlikely his heart would have made it through the night.
Suddenly, my value of an Apple Watch goes from curiously appealingly to bordering a life necessity. I’ve always had great hope that this first wrist-bound breakthrough from Apple would be meaningful. Apparently, it is getting even closer to playing a role in life that can help us stay alive. Ironically, Apple more recently applied for a patent that would activate the Apple Watch to call 911 if an event happened that it detected was life-threatening.
If the watch sensing a head-on car crash or if can predict when someone is going to fall, it becomes extremely valuable. Early on, Intel was at the center of studies that concluded simple sensors could predict when a fall is about to happen. A change in the way we walk – or your gate – was the centerpiece that became an important warning sign. Apple didn’t spell out any of these exact scenarios, but anyone could imagine the usefulness of such an alert system.
In the meantime, while I’ve purchase two Apple Watches in the past, I never really worn them a lot. But after writing this article and reporting about its growing health value, I am wearing one right now. The 62 year old Canadian gentleman it’s worth reporting is an avid watch collector. He has since stored away his other 35 collectible watches only to put on an Apple Watch at the beginning of every day that he holds more precious than ever to embrace.