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March 19, 2024

Apple devices’ crash and fall detection features are reportedly flooding 911 emergency services and dispatch centers in states across the U.S.

exist Red House (Montana)the issue affects Carbon County authorities.

“When people crash there, they have these watches, and they automatically call 911, but it’s an open line. So, our dispatchers are able to tell if there’s a real emergency, or if they can hear people in the background. And it’s just misdialing. We’ve taken our numbers from previous years and even last year’s 911 misdialing, and this year they’re up 30 percent,” Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan told KTVQ in January.

exist Oregon and IdahoKATU said local agencies reported inadvertent 911 calls on Mount Hood and Mount Schweitzer.

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Mount Hood outside the Willamette River during a heat wave in Portland, Oregon, U.S., Monday, June 28, 2021.
(Photographer: Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However, Cheryl Bledsoe, the superintendent of Clackamas 911, told the station that from a calling standpoint, it didn’t overwhelm them.

In December, the Colorado Sun reported that at least five counties in the state had received a record number of calls from Apple products for skiers.

“But we haven’t seen our numbers change. We’re seeing as many as 20 a day, and it’s a huge drain on our resources,” Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons told the publication. “We’re talking to Apple to get them to pay more attention to this, but it feels like we’re trying to spin a battleship in the bathtub.”

Trina Dummer, Summit County’s interim director of emergency services, said in an interview with The New York Times that she spends her entire day dealing with crash notifications, noting that the calls can take away from limited resources in a true emergency.

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  Attendees look at the brand new iPhone 14 Pro during a special Apple event on September 7, 2022 in Cupertino, California.

Attendees look at the brand new iPhone 14 Pro during a special Apple event on September 7, 2022 in Cupertino, California.
((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

“Apple needs to build their own call center if that’s the feature they want,” she said, telling the New York Times that Apple had sent a representative to observe Dummer and her team for a day.

As of September, the Apple Watch and iPhone 14s are equipped with technology designed to alert 911 dispatchers. Fall detection technology launched in 2018.

While Apple did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment, an Apple spokesperson told The New York Times that the company was aware of the issue and warned users that 911 was being called and had 10 seconds to call to cancel it.

Apple spokesman Alex Kirschner said: “We’re aware that, in certain circumstances, these features could trigger emergency services when users have not experienced a serious crash or a serious fall.”

A new Apple Watch is shown during a special Apple event on September 7, 2022 in Cupertino, California.

A new Apple Watch is shown during a special Apple event on September 7, 2022 in Cupertino, California.
((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

The tech giant also said Software update The plan is to reduce the number of misdialed calls by the end of 2022.

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Kirschner added: “Collision detection and fall detection are designed to help users when they need it most, and it has already saved several lives.”

Collision detection is available on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models with the latest version of iOS, and Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra with the latest version of watchOS.

It’s designed to detect serious crashes, and if the owner is unable to respond, it will automatically call emergency services after a 20-second delay. To turn off the feature, go to Settings and Emergency SOS on iPhone, or My Watch and Emergency SOS on Apple Watch. Users can also turn off fall detection this way.



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