Another life saved by Apple Watch, the new Check Engine light

Jennifer Vazquez, NBC New York:

The 32-year-old Monzidelis was working at his family bowling alley business, Bowlerland, on April 3, when he became dizzy and went to the bathroom, where he started bleeding. He soon received an alarming notification via his smartwatch telling him to seek medical attention immediately.

And:

Doctors believe that if he hadn’t received his smartwatch notification when he did, he would have not survived his medical emergency because he wouldn’t have paid attention to his symptoms, especially since he was a healthy individual up to that point.

Monzidelis agreed: “I would have been working in my office and they would have found me dead,” he said, adding that he is “very lucky” and “feeling like a million bucks” since the life-threatening and frightening incident.

If you started bleeding, would you head right to the emergency room? Maybe I would, maybe I’d first do some research on my symptoms, or call someone seeking advice.

I think one subtle core point here is that a notification from your Apple Watch to seek medical attention immediately feels like an alarming call to action from a trusted expert. In some ways, Apple Watch is like the Check Engine light on your car. If it comes on, you pay attention (though, some folks do ignore it). If your Apple Watch tells you to seek immediate medical attention, go immediately.

I’ve never read a story about someone’s Apple Watch telling them to seek immediate medical attention that turned out to be a false alarm. That Check Engine light generally means something.

UPDATE: From the comments:

One point that I think is valuable here is to call 9-1-1 instead of taking yourself to the ER. Calling for Emergency Medical Services gets immediate treatment faster than going to an ER where one can easily lose consciousness or having worsening symptoms while en route.

Solid point.