When Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 4, American Heart Association president Dr. Ivor Benjamin said that he was inspired by ‘the life-saving potential’ of the device. A paramedic has now chimed in with a detailed look at ‘how the Apple Watch Series 4 will and won’t save lives’ …
While most of the health attention was on the ECG feature, paramedic Rich Mogull begins with the fall detection tech. He said that for elderly people, a fall can often prove fatal.
He discusses the limitations – cost, battery life and relative complexity for a demographic which ‘may also be battling mental degradation’ – but says none of this changes one simple fact:
Mogull says the Apple Watch is so good at detecting AFib because it doesn’t matter if the readings are not exact, it’s the pattern that matters.
The paramedic says a key value of the Watch is that it will alert users who would otherwise be unaware they have the condition – and can help to avoid a stroke.
Interestingly, he says the ECG functionality is least likely to save a life, due to the extremely limited capabilities of any one-lead device.
But that doesn’t make it worthless.
Addressing the risk of false positives, Mogull doesn’t see this as a big deal. The fall-detection, in particular, has plenty of safeguards, and a paramedic would rather attend a call needlessly than fail to attend a real event.
It may also be useful in helping patients with heart conditions record ECGs during specific events and then share those ECGs with cardiologists—most heart events don’t take place in the doctor’s office.
When owners in other countries will get to enjoy the benefits of the ECG functionality is very much unknown. It could likely take years in Europe, but there is a chance that Apple took a short-cut approach which could see it happening far sooner than expected.
Via Daring Fireball
