AI system
- System
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Apple Watch Fall Detection
- Model
-
Not assessed
- Release
-
Exact release not established.
- Application developer
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Apple - Role
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The watch detected a hard fall and called emergency services when the wearer did not respond.
- Configuration
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The reported feature was Apple Watch Fall Detection. The record does not identify the watch generation.
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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Fall Detection is enabled on a worn Apple Watch (Series 4 or later) with a connected paired iPhone or cellular service. A collision throws the wearer down with an impact the classifier reads as a hard fall. The wearer stays immobile for about a minute without dismissing the alert. The ambulance service and the emergency contact can act on the automatic call and the shared location.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
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The watch's fall-detection classifier read the collision's impact as a hard fall. With the wearer unresponsive, it placed the automatic ambulance call through the paired phone and sent the location texts and calls to his girlfriend. SCDF paramedics treated and conveyed him. The counterfactual is unproven. A passer-by later picked up his phone and spoke to the girlfriend. The family at first assumed that person had called the ambulance, and Fitri was regaining consciousness as paramedics arrived.
- AI contribution
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The watch's fall-detection classifier read the collision's impact as a hard fall. With the wearer unresponsive, it placed the automatic ambulance call through the paired phone and sent the location texts and calls to his girlfriend. SCDF paramedics treated and conveyed him. The counterfactual is unproven. A passer-by later picked up his phone and spoke to the girlfriend. The family at first assumed that person had called the ambulance, and Fitri was regaining consciousness as paramedics arrived.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
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Apple Watch Fall Detection called an ambulance and alerted his girlfriend after a hit-and-run left a Singapore motorcyclist unconscious.
- Category
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Improved Physical Health
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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People.
- Beneficiaries
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Not assessed
- Reach
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Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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Yes
- Costs and harms
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Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Results
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Not assessed
- Additional value from AI
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Not assessed
- Limitations
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Not assessed
- Denominators
-
Not assessed
- Materials for replication
-
Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
-
Not assessed
- Amount
-
Not assessed
- Currency and prices
-
Not assessed
- Period and unit
-
Not assessed
- Realization
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Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
-
Not assessed
- Gross or net
-
Not assessed
- Included costs
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Not assessed
- Comparison
-
Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
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Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Developer:
Apple. - Jurisdictions
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Benefit: Ang Mo Kio,
Singapore. Developer: 
United States. - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
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Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
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Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The watch and phone keep working and connected after the impact (here the watch screen cracked but still functioned). Nobody else present is able to call for help, otherwise the watch's call adds little. An ambulance can reach the location within the window in which treatment matters.
- Replication attempts
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Not assessed
- Later findings
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No later report on Fitri's recovery or the hit-and-run case was found in the cited sources.
- Availability
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Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
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Not assessed
- Success criterion
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Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
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AIBD-0110-source-0001–0003
- Citations
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Numbered references below.
- Language
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Not assessed
- Source relationships
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Independent, Developer
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
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Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
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People.
- Depth
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People: 3.
- Reasons
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People: An unconscious hit-and-run victim on a quiet road at night had an ambulance summoned within what Wanbao calls the golden hour. He had abrasions, a neck injury needing a collar and a suspected bleed at the back of the head. His girlfriend was told where he was. The family and the Wanbao headline call it life-saving. No clinician or official says so and a passer-by did reach him, so life-saving is not established.
- Observed or intended
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Not assessed
- Rubric
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Not assessed
- Assessor and date
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Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
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Not assessed
- Fill
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Independently reported
Entry details
- Kind
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Not assessed
- Related entries
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Not assessed
- Field
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Emergency response / road traffic injury. Consumer wearables.
- Purpose
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Fall Detection is built to recognize a hard fall. If the wearer stays immobile for about a minute, it calls emergency services and messages emergency contacts with the location. That is what it did. The trigger was a motorcycle collision rather than a fall from standing. Apple's documentation notes only that high-impact activity may register as a fall.
- Dates
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Date basis unassessed: 2021 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
-
Not assessed
- Version
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SHA-256: eda5b9b706d6…
References
- Other identifiers
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oecd_aim: 2021-09-29-a99a.
- Category mappings
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Not assessed
- Brief
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Not assessed
- Revisions
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4 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
-
News report Independent author
Lianhe Wanbao, Chen Yujia 陈昱嘉 (2021). 准新郎遭撞后逃昏迷 智能表救一命 [Groom-to-be knocked unconscious in hit-and-run; smart watch saves his life]. zaobao.com.sg, 28 September 2021 (print: Lianhe Wanbao, 28 September 2021).
菲特里的智能手表检测到不寻常的剧烈震动后立刻启动了救援功能，链接手表的手机也自动召救护车到现场
-
News report Independent author
Zheng, Z. (2021). Motorcyclist's Apple watch alerts girlfriend & calls for ambulance after hit-&-run accident at Ang Mo Kio. Mothership.sg, 29 September 2021.
the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were alerted to the accident at around 8:20pm. Fitri was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
-
Press release Developer
Apple (2026). Use Fall Detection with Apple Watch. Apple Support article 108896, last modified 6 May 2026.
If your watch detects that you've been immobile for about a minute, it will make the call automatically.