Do Any Smartwatches Have Fall Detection

Do any Smartwatches have Fall Detection?

Falls are one of the most common causes of death among older adults. Each year, over a third of Americans age 65 or older fall at least once.

Thankfully, technology has come a long way in the fight against falling. The latest Apple Watch, for example, offers fall detection that can call emergency services on your behalf if you fall hard.

The technology behind fall detectors is pretty simple. They use a combination of accelerometers and processors to track the speed of movements in all directions.

Medical Alarms AU They also have a special algorithm that discriminates between normal movement and an actual fall. This is important as some activities of daily living (ADL), like sitting down or getting from standing to lying down, have a strong resemblance to a fall.

Some fall detection systems are designed to send GPS data to a monitoring center so that emergency responders know where to find you. Others are designed to be worn in the home only, and alert a loved one to a fall.

Apple introduced the feature on its latest Apple Watch Series 4 last year, but it took them a while to perfect it. The company partnered with movement disorder clinics and family members to collect 250,000 days of wearable data on 2,500 people before the feature was launched.