What if: Help, I have fallen ...
I have not talked about this before, but a ‘fall’ ultimately cost my uncle his life. We don’t think of the dangers of a fall, but it can be serious.
The CDC reports that in 2015, there was 33,381 unintentional fall deaths or around 10.4 per 100,000 people. Think about this for a minute, that same year, the number of traffic deaths was 37,757, or 11.7 per 100,000 people. This data is for the USA. (Source: National Vital Statistics Report: Deaths: Final data for 2015)
Source: Apple.com
In the case of my uncle, someone was there and was aware of his fall. Complications from the fall took his life. Often, when someone falls, they are alone.
I am very excited about the Apple Watch (Series 4). One of the features that has me super excited is the new fall detection capabilities. Maybe it’s because I am getting older, but my uncles death from a fall is always in the back of my mind.
Earlier this week, I saw this video from Joanna Stern at the Wall Street Journal. (Joanna is such a great tech reporter). Watch this video. I was already a believer in the technology, but this is impressive. I don’t think this is hype, and I know it will only get better. Even more important, it will save lives. It’s not perfect, but wow. And yes, I turned ‘fall detection’ on in my Series 4 Apple Watch.
~ Rick
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©2018 Rick Cartwright