I got to test out the auto fall detection on the Apple Watch 4 and it works

[tl01]

It has to have sharp force on your hand. Digging will look like a fall to the watch, while Volleyball a trip or slip.
This is why most of the early tests not successful because they only simulated the falls, not the force on your hand.

I do a digging motion often in my exercise. But anyway....I am leaving it set for fall detection as it has worked great so far in seeing I am not falling.

 

[Dezlboy]

Ambulance got to me and I was getting texts from my emergency contacts mom and sister

Thank you for sharing experience. Had a nasty slip on the ice last month. Had iPhone to call for help, but did blackout for a bit. Could have bleed out.... Also, the fall detect feature will be handy in shower or when phone not in pocket.

 

[wvayens]

Why not just turn it off during matches?

Apple specifically recommends turning fall detection off during physical activity. One of the swimmers on my team got a new apple watch, suddenly panicked when she got the notification that the watch had detected a fall and would call 911 in 30 seconds....happened twice before she finally got out of the pool and turned fall detection off.

 

[edhchoe]

This has to be the rubbing the salt in the wound. When you fall the watch makes fun of you...

 

[old-wiz]

I will be turning 74 this year and a feature like that would be useful. I fall with distressing regularity and even have a t-shirt that says "I don't trip; I do random checks of gravity". Fortunately I only seem to fall in my house (so far).. I also have balance issues since balance is connected to hearing so if you go deaf you almost always lose your balance.

 

[Docj581]

I am 82, post quadruple bypass. I fell backwards from a mud room door threshold onto a concrete garage floor and suffered a bad concussion. Fortunately my wife and son were nearby, but by the time they got me up and in his car on the way to the hospital, I received a call on my watch from 911 saying an ambulance was en route. I said no need, I’m on my way to the hospital and my son is an MD. My wife and contacts got texts including maps showing my progress. In the hospital, following a normal CT scan, , in the bathroom I had severe vertigo and fell again, striking the right side of my head against the door, but I was alert and able to notify the watch I was ok and cancelled the second 911 call. I have been an enthusiastic Apple user since 1985–but even more now!