I Tested the Apple Watch Fall Detection Feature

We thought a drive in to town was in order. We hadn’t parked at the Tidal Basin for a while and the plan was to walk to the White House. I’ve been suffering from plantar fasciitis for about three months so our usual morning walks have changed. I’m trying to build up a tolerable walking distance little by little while doing all of the exercises, icings, and splint wearing during the day and night. So we made our way towards the WWII Memorial. I’m always telling my husband to look down because the sidewalks are a mess. Well, I didn’t this time. My foot hit an unexpected raised portion of the sidewalk and I couldn’t catch my balance while my hat flew off. Thank goodness I was holding my husband’s hand as it most likely softened the fall. I’m just glad I didn’t take him down with me. Right after I fell my Apple Watch sent a message - “it looks like you’ve taken a hard fall.” Since I was “ok” I closed out the message. But if I hadn’t done that, an SOS would have been sent. This was a nice reminder that gadgets can save lives. Not one person stopped to help us - which I guess I’m not surprised since I got up right away. We started the walk again and then the discomfort set in … my left hand was badly scraped, my elbow was too. My left knee was also scraped and started to hurt, along with my left hip. So I fell on four points rather than one. We decided to turn back to the car and go home since I wanted to put ice on my hand and knee. So I’m sitting here with ice everywhere - including my foot, took and advil and am hoping that none of this is serious that it would require any sort of medical intervention. It has not been a good year for us. It could have been a lot worse and I am thankful for that. But for someone who tries to be so careful it didn’t make any difference today. I guess that’s why it’s called an accident. 

Apple Watch Series 8

I am a gadget lover - ever since I can remember. When the iPad was launched in 2010 I waited eagerly by the window waiting for it to be delivered. Apple products are my dream! We only use iPhones and iPads, and earlier an iPod. But I never got in to the Watch. I didn’t see any need for it. Plus, I wear an Embr wave in my left wrist to manage heat and cold. But the last iteration of the Watch caught my attention for all of the health reasons. I have a strong familial history with cardiac problems and I have been hypertensive for over forty years. Lately it’s also been difficult getting a good night’s sleep. So the idea of monitoring sleep, getting EKG readings, blood oxygen levels and all the monitoring of heart rate variances was appealing. After researching all of the options I decided to get an 8series Watch and it arrived yesterday. Since I have never had a watch I really know nothing about it. So I read up on the set up and basics beforehand. As always the packaging is such a treat and putting the wrist band on the Watch was simple enough. The set up was really easy. I don’t have enough time in the day to discover all of the features. Just selecting the clock face is daunting. So far I really like controlling Apple TV from the Watch, asking Siri questions - primarily for my husband while we are on walks, the hand washing timer, the simplicity of use (although it’s far from second nature), and all of the heart tracking. It knew we were walking this morning and started to monitor everything about the walk. So now I’m wearing the Watch on my left arm and the Embr wave on my right arm. Too bad they couldn’t be combined in to one. The Embr wave is great at night when I’m restless and need to “cool down.” I’ve always loved data and trends having worked in critical care units and eventually managing productivity and efficiency using data and charts. It will be interesting to see the trends in my health. Hopefully we won’t need it for emergencies and falls but it has the capability of tracking that too and getting resources to you. One can only imagine what the future holds.