Apple devices’ crash and fall detection features are reportedly flooding 911 emergency service and dispatch centers in states across the U.S.
In Red Lodge, Montana, the difficulty is impacting Carbon County authorities.
“When people crash up there, they usually have these watches, they routinely dial 911, but then it’s an open-ended line. So, our dispatchers are in a position to tell if there’s a real emergency or in the event that they can hear the rustling within the background and that it’s only a misdial. We took our numbers from 911 misdials from previous years, even last 12 months, they usually’re up 30% this 12 months,” Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan told KTVQ in January.
In Oregon and Idaho, KATU said that local agencies had reported unintentional 911 calls on Mount Hood and Schweitzer Mountain.
“Apple needs to place in their very own call center if this can be a feature they need,” she said, telling the Times that Apple had sent representatives to watch Dummer and her team for a day.
As of September, Apple Watches and iPhone 14s were equipped with technology that was meant to alert 911 dispatchers. Fall detection technology was introduced in 2018.
While Apple didn’t immediately return Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment, an Apple spokesman told the Times that the corporate was aware of the difficulty and that it provides warnings to the user that a call is being placed to 911, with 10 seconds allotted to cancel it.
“We have now been aware that in some specific scenarios these features have triggered emergency services when a user didn’t experience a severe automotive crash or hard fall,” Alex Kirschner, an Apple spokesman, said.
The tech giant also said that updates to the software in late 2022 had been intended to scale back the variety of false dials.
“Crash Detection and Fall Detection are designed to get users help once they need it most, and it has already contributed to saving several lives,” Kirschner added.
Crash Detection works on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models with the newest version of iOS, in addition to Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) and Apple Watch Ultra with the newest version of watchOS.
It’s designed to detect severe automotive crashes, and routinely calls emergency services after a 20-second delay if the owner is unable to reply. To show the feature off, go to Settings and Emergency SOS on the iPhone, or My Watch and Emergency SOS on an Apple Watch. Users can even turn fall detection off this manner.
Apple devices’ crash and fall detection features are reportedly flooding 911 emergency service and dispatch centers in states across the U.S.
In Red Lodge, Montana, the difficulty is impacting Carbon County authorities.
“When people crash up there, they usually have these watches, they routinely dial 911, but then it’s an open-ended line. So, our dispatchers are in a position to tell if there’s a real emergency or in the event that they can hear the rustling within the background and that it’s only a misdial. We took our numbers from 911 misdials from previous years, even last 12 months, they usually’re up 30% this 12 months,” Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan told KTVQ in January.
In Oregon and Idaho, KATU said that local agencies had reported unintentional 911 calls on Mount Hood and Schweitzer Mountain.
“Apple needs to place in their very own call center if this can be a feature they need,” she said, telling the Times that Apple had sent representatives to watch Dummer and her team for a day.
As of September, Apple Watches and iPhone 14s were equipped with technology that was meant to alert 911 dispatchers. Fall detection technology was introduced in 2018.
While Apple didn’t immediately return Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment, an Apple spokesman told the Times that the corporate was aware of the difficulty and that it provides warnings to the user that a call is being placed to 911, with 10 seconds allotted to cancel it.
“We have now been aware that in some specific scenarios these features have triggered emergency services when a user didn’t experience a severe automotive crash or hard fall,” Alex Kirschner, an Apple spokesman, said.
The tech giant also said that updates to the software in late 2022 had been intended to scale back the variety of false dials.
“Crash Detection and Fall Detection are designed to get users help once they need it most, and it has already contributed to saving several lives,” Kirschner added.
Crash Detection works on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models with the newest version of iOS, in addition to Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) and Apple Watch Ultra with the newest version of watchOS.
It’s designed to detect severe automotive crashes, and routinely calls emergency services after a 20-second delay if the owner is unable to reply. To show the feature off, go to Settings and Emergency SOS on the iPhone, or My Watch and Emergency SOS on an Apple Watch. Users can even turn fall detection off this manner.
