Apple

Doctor urges patients to wear an Apple Watch after ladder fall

Fall detection on the Apple Watch has potentially saved another life.

by
Alex Gatewood
October 27, 2022

Image: Unsplash

An Apple Watch is once again being praised, this time by a doctor who says that he was saved by his Apple Watch 5.

Originally reported by NBC Chicago, Dr. Thomas Ficho was pressure washing his house and took a risky step from his ladder to reach a spot. He tumbled five feet to the ground, losing consciousness.

When he woke up a few minutes later, a police officer met him in his yard. After asking how the cop knew he needed help, the officer pointed to his Apple Watch.

The watch’s fall detection feature had gone off and alerted emergency services. Now, Dr. Ficho is urging his patients to start wearing Apple Watches.

“The majority of my patients are grown adults and a lot of them are over 60. And I have told every single one of them that they need to have one of these watches,” Dr. Ficho told NBC Chicago. I don’t even work in Apple infrastructure, I work in PC infrastructure. I’m not a crazy Apple person.“

Dr. Ficho operates a practice that serves many older patients. A lot of the people he sees are 60 and over.

And he recommends that every one of them wear an Apple Watch for fall detection. In his interview with NBC Chicago, he recalled a previous patient he served before Apple Watches were available.

That patient fell out of her shower, broke her hip, and was unable to move. Someone found her dead three days later. “All she needed was a watch,” Ficho says.

This is not the first time that the Apple Watch has potentially saved someone’s life. Fall detection is clearly an incredibly useful feature that can help many people.

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