Apple Watch SOS saves life of woman swimmer stuck in cold river waters

Apple Watch has saved many lives on terra firma and now, there is a report that says it saved a woman swimmer! Yes, once again the Apple Watch has been proved to be a life savior. The device has recently turned out to be an ultimate lifeguard! The woman swimmer used the Apple Watch SOS feature to call 911 to get rescued. The swimmer was caught in a rock in a chilly river. The woman got stuck in rock last week in Oregon, Columbia and called emergency services by using her Apple Watch after which she was rescued safely. According to a police report in Dalles, Oregon, the woman was nearing exhaustion and showing signs of hypothermia when she was rescued. In effect, it was a near-death experience that she survived only because of her Apple Watch.

Notably, an Apple Watch comes with an SOS feature that allows users to call emergency services by just tapping the side button for a few seconds. However, it needs to have a cellular and an active plan to work without the user’s iPhone nearby.

As shared by the Independent, the Police report says, “Officer Reams assessed the scene and determined that the rescue of the swimmer needed to be immediate, and that he would be able to aid in the rescue only by entering the water to feel how the entrapment was occurring, since the water was too murky and fast to allow any visible inspection from above.” The report further added that Reams entered the water downstream of the swimmer, freed the swimmer’s stuck foot and brought her to shore.

Columbia River was reportedly extremely high due to continual rains, and there are areas of flooding in the city. The water temperature of the river was 56 degrees (13C), when the rescuers reached the incident spot.

Apple brought the water resistance feature to its smartwatch series in 2016 to provide wearers with health and exercise data while swimming and doing other water-based activities.