CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — One Clayton County man is still alive today thanks to his Apple Watch and a helpful 911 dispatcher.
The man was having a medical emergency when he fell outside his home in the middle of the night on Jan. 23, the Clayton County Police Department said in a Thursday social media post.
That's when his Apple Watch detected the fall around 3 a.m. and automatically called 911. According to Apple, this is a standard feature for newer watches.
On its website, the company said if an Apple Watch SE, Series 4 or later identifies a hard fall while someone is wearing it, the watch will automatically call 911 after first signaling a tap on the wrist and sounding an alarm. The person can choose to call emergency services, closing the feature or tapping an "I'm OK button."
But if the watch detects you haven't been moving for about a minute, it will make the call automatically.
Police said their dispatcher, Alecia Chavous, received the call. She only heard the man "breathing erratically." She tried to communicate with him, but he was unresponsive.
Although Chavous didn't know the man's exact location, his Apple Watch gave dispatch basic GPS coordinates, police said. Knowing temperatures were frigid at the time, Chavous decided to immediately notify Morrow Fire Department and Morrow Police Department while searching his exact location, they said.
Within 12 minutes of his watch notifying 911, emergency personnel located the man in the bushes near bushes nearby his home after Chavous updated first responders.
Thank you Dispatcher II Chavous for your assistance with saving a City of Morrow, Clayton County GA resident's life," the department wrote.