Apple Smart Watch Life Savior

Using a smart watch, a trapped river swimmer was saved.

A woman who became trapped in a river while swimming was rescued after alerting emergency services with her smartwatch. According to police in The Dalles, Oregon, a woman swimming in the Columbia River called 911 from her Apple Watch after her foot became entangled in rocks.

According to a police report, "the swimmer advised that she had been caught in the river for over 30 minutes and that she had made the emergency call from her Apple Watch." 

"The swimmer was clearly in distress and showed signs of hypothermia..." Due to the constant rains, the Columbia River was extremely high, and there are areas of flooding in the city. The river's water temperature was 56 degrees (13 degrees Celsius)."

Water resistance was first added to Apple's smartwatch series in 2016 to provide wearers with health and exercise data while swimming and other water-based activities. A feature called SOS allows users to press a button to call the local emergency number and retrieve the user's medical information.

The full police report described the rescue, which included Officer Kanyon Reams diving into the river to save the unidentified swimmer. "Officer Reams assessed the scene and determined that the swimmer's rescue 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, because the water was too murky and fast to allow him to enter the water."

"Officer Reams carefully entered the water downstream of the swimmer, leaving his ballistic vest and duty belt on the shore." Officer Reams reached beneath the water and just made it to the swimmer's foot. Only Officer Reams' head remained above water. Officer Reams was able to free the swimmer's stuck foot and bring her to shore, where she was taken care of by firefighters.