Apple Watch's Lifesaving Feature Saves Skiers in Freezing Weather
WA, USAMonday, January 27, 2025
Advertisement
Advertisement
Imagine this: A skier falls 1, 000 feet and breaks his leg in the freezing cold of Washington state. It sounds like a dire situation, but thanks to the Apple Watch, it didn't turn into a tragedy. The watch's Emergency SOS feature came to the rescue. Here's how it went down.
The Chelan County Sheriff's Office got a call from an Apple Watch on Wednesday. The watch had automatically dialed emergency services using its Fall Detection and Crash Detection features, even though the skier was unconscious. The watch also sent the skier's location to the rescue team.
The rescue team quickly realized they needed a helicopter to reach the skier. They found not just one, but two injured skiers. The Apple Watch had alerted them just in time. Without it, the skiers might have frozen to death.
A video from King County Sheriff Air Support shows the eerie sight of a white figure waving in the dark, picked up by heat-sensing equipment. The rescue team carefully lowered a member to the ground, hooked up the injured skier to a harness, and pulled them into the helicopter.
In the end, both skiers were safely flown to a hospital for treatment. It's just one more example of how the Apple Watch can be a game-changer in emergencies.