Doctors Are Saying Everyone Should Be Wearing An Apple Watch?

One Chicago area doctor started recommending to all his patients that they wear an Apple Watch when the fall detection feature on his series 5 watch came to his rescue after he suffered an unexpected 5-foot fall.

By Jennifer Hollohan | Published

The latest versions of the Apple Watch have made news regularly thanks to its innovative and cutting-edge features. Users have fallen in love with the new updates. And now, it appears at least one doctor has as well.

BGR found out about a Chicago area doctor named Dr. Thomas Ficho, who has firsthand experience with the benefits of his watch. Dr. Ficho was working on some home improvement tasks one day. While power washing the exterior bricks of his home, he encountered a problem.

A portion of the wall was out of reach. So, Dr. Ficho stood on the window well cover, hoping it would help give the needed boost. Unfortunately, it was not quite up to the task.

The doctor fell five feet into the bottom of the egress well. And no one was around to help him out. It took nearly five minutes for him to get out.

And then, as he climbed out, a surprise greeted him. A Glenview police officer was waiting on his lawn. The officer checked on Dr. Ficho’s well-being and inquired whether he needed an ambulance.

The officer knew to come because the doctor was wearing an Apple Watch. But not just any Apple Watch. He was sporting a new Apple Watch Series 5.

It is the second generation of watches that feature some innovative tech features. One of those is called Fall Detection. It utilizes a gyroscope and accelerometer to detect hard falls.

According to Apple, “By analyzing wrist trajectory and impact acceleration, Apple Watch sends the user an alert after a fall, which can be dismissed or used to initiate a call to emergency services. If Apple Watch senses immobility for 60 seconds after the notification, it will automatically call emergency services and send a message along with the location to emergency contacts.” Dr. Ficho did not realize that his watch had that capability. 

But the fact that emergency services quickly showed up was good news for the doctor. He is so impressed with the watch’s capabilities that he now recommends them to all his patients. And that is even though the good doctor works primarily with PC-based products.

apple watch garmin

Dr. Ficho’s patients are almost all over 60 years old. So, having a built-in fall detector is the perfect thing to help keep them safe. But it is not the only reason behind his strong advocacy for wearing an Apple Watch.

During the pandemic, Apple Watches helped his patients monitor their oxygen and heart rhythms when they could not get to the office. The Fall Detection feature is a bonus. And it strengthens his hearty recommendation.

But the Fall Detection feature is not the only cutting-edge technology you can find on the Apple Watch. It also has a Crash Detection feature. One wearer recently made the news after experiencing it for himself. 

Both these unique features come standard on all iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra. However, Fall Detection is also available on some older models. Wearers of Apple Watch Series 4 (and newer) devices have access to this lifesaving feature.