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A dear colleague died of a heart attack a couple months ago. His Apple Watch didn't save him. He collapsed at work. The Apple Watch is very explicit about not

A dear colleague died of a heart attack a couple months ago. His Apple Watch didn't save him. He collapsed at work. The Apple Watch is very explicit about not being a panacea, and currently only advertises detection of a specific kind of arythmia or elevated heart rate. Note that the original comment mentioned that fall detection was probably the trigger. I'm still pretty angry at the universe about my colleague's sudden death. I just want to temper expectations about what the Watch can or cannot do.

oefrha 7y ago
Heart attacks are sudden and sometimes nothing could save you. My mother is a medical professional, and she told me the story about a doctor in her hospital: one morning he realized he was about to have a heart attack, called emergency services himself and left the door open; he was dead by the time the ambulance arrived, five to ten minutes later.
- throwaway8689 7y ago
  Some heart attacks kill faster than others. They are not all sudden. My friend, a doctor, had a heart attack and decided to go to the second nearest hospital because it had a better reputation than the nearest. He's still alive today.
  - oefrha 7y ago
    Sure, I probably should have moved “sometimes” before “sudden”.
- killjoywashere 7y ago
  There was a legendary cardiologist at my medical school who predicted his own demise, took a Holter monitor home with him one night, wired himself up, went to sleep, never woke up, and left his colleagues with the 12-lead trace of his death.
  - ramonakira 7y ago
    > the 12-lead trace of his death What does this mean?
    - BillinghamJ 7y ago
      A 12-lead ECG report/graph/whatever it's called. 12 wires collecting data (versus eg the Apple Watch implementation which is equivalent to a 1-lead ECG)
      - dathinab 7y ago
        I wouldn't be to sure the Apple watch is even comparable to 1-lead ECG, simply due to the difference of how ECG is attached to you and how the Apple watch is. Through this doesn't mean the Apple watch can't be a useful addition, just don't rely on it.
        jjeaff 7y ago
        I would imagine it is possible the sensor in an Apple watch is more sophisticated than a single ecg lead.
        oaiey 7y ago
        12 lead ECG is just a technology. There could be other techniques. However, the Apple Watch might be comparable to higher number of leads but never be identical to the number of leads. Except, when you wear additional bracelets at your both legs, the other hand, both shoulders and another 6 on your chest. Then yes ;). And consider the continuous cyborgization of our society, that is not that far away. The 12 lead ECG is about detecting the electrical impulses of heart beats from different angles of your bodies. If you found a technology to detect these mV values from a meter away ... tell me ;) We will be rich ;)
        megous 7y ago
        You can do only so much with a single signal. There's a reason ECG probes are attached to multiple points on the body, and you can infer quite a bit of info from just comparing multiple signals alone, including if you have your heart flipped, for some reason. :D You'll not get that from your watch.
- rahoulb 7y ago
  My uncle died in the waiting room of his cardiologist's office, waiting for his check-up
amatecha 7y ago
It doesn't just detect arrhythmia -- it also detects if you have fallen and are not moving (and will automatically call emergency services after some duration, if configured as such). More details at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944 if you're interested to know more.

oefrha 7y ago

Heart attacks are sudden and sometimes nothing could save you. My mother is a medical professional, and she told me the story about a doctor in her hospital: one morning he realized he was about to have a heart attack, called emergency services himself and left the door open; he was dead by the time the ambulance arrived, five to ten minutes later.

throwaway8689 7y ago
Some heart attacks kill faster than others. They are not all sudden. My friend, a doctor, had a heart attack and decided to go to the second nearest hospital because it had a better reputation than the nearest. He's still alive today.
- oefrha 7y ago
  Sure, I probably should have moved “sometimes” before “sudden”.
killjoywashere 7y ago
There was a legendary cardiologist at my medical school who predicted his own demise, took a Holter monitor home with him one night, wired himself up, went to sleep, never woke up, and left his colleagues with the 12-lead trace of his death.
- ramonakira 7y ago
  > the 12-lead trace of his death What does this mean?
  - BillinghamJ 7y ago
    A 12-lead ECG report/graph/whatever it's called. 12 wires collecting data (versus eg the Apple Watch implementation which is equivalent to a 1-lead ECG)
    - dathinab 7y ago
      I wouldn't be to sure the Apple watch is even comparable to 1-lead ECG, simply due to the difference of how ECG is attached to you and how the Apple watch is. Through this doesn't mean the Apple watch can't be a useful addition, just don't rely on it.
      - jjeaff 7y ago
        I would imagine it is possible the sensor in an Apple watch is more sophisticated than a single ecg lead.
        oaiey 7y ago
        12 lead ECG is just a technology. There could be other techniques. However, the Apple Watch might be comparable to higher number of leads but never be identical to the number of leads. Except, when you wear additional bracelets at your both legs, the other hand, both shoulders and another 6 on your chest. Then yes ;). And consider the continuous cyborgization of our society, that is not that far away. The 12 lead ECG is about detecting the electrical impulses of heart beats from different angles of your bodies. If you found a technology to detect these mV values from a meter away ... tell me ;) We will be rich ;)
        megous 7y ago
        You can do only so much with a single signal. There's a reason ECG probes are attached to multiple points on the body, and you can infer quite a bit of info from just comparing multiple signals alone, including if you have your heart flipped, for some reason. :D You'll not get that from your watch.
rahoulb 7y ago
My uncle died in the waiting room of his cardiologist's office, waiting for his check-up

amatecha 7y ago

It doesn't just detect arrhythmia -- it also detects if you have fallen and are not moving (and will automatically call emergency services after some duration, if configured as such). More details at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944 if you're interested to know more.