​Apple Watch Alerts Emergency Services After Man Suffers Hard Fall From Bike

Gabe Burdett said his dad Bob was out mountain biking in Riverside State Park in Spokeane, Washington, when he fell from his bicycle, in turn hitting his head and being knocked unconscious.

Gabe took to Facebook to share the incredible story of his father's lucky escape.

He wrote: "Last Sunday while trying to meet up with my dad for some mountain biking in Riverside State Park (MTB in RSP), I get a text from dad's Apple Watch letting me know it 'detected a Hard Fall' with a map to his location.

"It was not far from our meeting spot. We drove straight there - but he was gone when we arrived. I get another update from the watch saying his location has changed with a map location of SHMC.

"Dad flipped his bike at the bottom of Doomsday, hit his head and was knocked out."

Gabe continued: "The watch had called 911 with his location and EMS had him scooped up and to the hospital in under a 1/2 hr. The fire dept. took his bike back to the station. My brother was already driving by the hospital when the second update came in and was able to be with him right away."

Gabe explained that thankfully his dad was on the mend after his fall, praising the technology that helped save his life.

He added: "Dad is doing great, clear X-Rays and CT scan, but a little sore for sure! 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.

"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!"

If the gadget detects what Apple refers to as a hard fall while being worn, the watch taps the wearer on the wrist and displays an alert.

You can either contact emergency services or dismiss the alert, telling the watch 'I'm OK'.

However, if your Apple Watch detects the person is immobile for around a minute, it begins a 30-second countdown, while tapping you on the wrist and sounding an alert, which gets louder so that you or someone else nearby can hear it.

When the countdown ends, the watch automatically contacts emergency services and play an audio message explaining a hard fall has been detected, before sharing the person's current location as latitude and longitude coordinates.

Explaining how to activate the feature, Apple said: "Wrist Detection must be turned on for your watch to automatically call emergency services: Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Passcode, then make sure that Wrist Detection is turned on."