“I look at technology and I think about all of the things we can do – both are doing and can do in the future – if technology is used to serve humanity and not the other way around.” ~ Tim Cook, chief executive, Apple
I was home in Marin County, California when I looked down at the text message on my
iPhone and read, ‘Hard Fall SOS – Laura Conigliaro called emergency services from this approximate location after Apple Watch detected a hard fall. You’re receiving this message because Laura has listed you as an emergency contact.’ This was followed by a location map, that I clicked on in attempt to comprehend what I was reading.
Confused, I called my Aunt Barbara. I had just seen and spoken with her and my mom maybe 30 minutes prior on FaceTime, while they were finishing dinner at my aunt’s apartment in Greenwich Village.
‘Where’s mom???!!’, I pleaded. ‘Something is wrong! Something has happened between 32nd and 33rd and Park Avenue! I just got a very strange text.’
Aunt Barbara said, ‘I just put her in a cab 10 minutes ago.’ She was confused too. ‘Let me try to call her.’
I called my brother, Andy in Colorado. Now we were all confused – and all calling my mom’s cell phone that continued to ring through to voicemail.
When we briefly spoke, I told Andy the location, and he started to look at what was on that street in New York City. On his end, he called Wolfgang’s Steakhouse on Park and 33rd.
Meanwhile, I received another text from mom’s watch: ‘Hard Fall SOS – The approximate location of Laura Conigliaro has changed’.
Wait, what? I am freaking on the inside – but focused, and in action detective-mode trying to figure out what is happening. My head tells me – something happened with the taxi, and… is mom in an ambulance?
Aunt Barbara is now ready to run out the door to see what she can learn on foot, and she, Andy and I are all messaging each other with updates – this all happening in a matter of minutes. I call Andy and he says he has spoken with a hostess from the steakhouse, who said there was a taxi that ‘crashed into a wall’, but there was no female passenger.
It just couldn’t be. Mom had to be there.
I called a friend who lives closest to that intersection in New York, asking her to go look.
Now I get a 3rd text from the Apple Watch. The location has changed again – and I am wondering to myself – what hospital is located at 28th and 1st? I did a search – SHE IS AT BELLEVUE! And then, as if it knew to confirm it, the word ‘Bellevue’ popped up on the locater.
I call the team: myself in California, Andy in Colorado, and Aunt Barbara downtown, and now on her way to Bellevue.
My Aunt was in line waiting to get into the Bellevue Trauma Center less than 30 minutes after the accident – all because of technology; all because of an outstanding feature of my mom’s Apple Watch that detected the crash and AUTOMATICALLY called the ambulance that instantly came – even before the NYPD arrived on the scene - to find her unconscious in the back of the taxi!
This feature of the Apple Watch texted a daughter across the country instantly on impact – and with communication and visibility (afforded to us through technologies like iMessage and GPS), we were immediately able to piece together what happened so that we could get to mom fast, and make sure she was getting the best care possible.
My mom is the glue in a closely knit family with a strong acumen in tech. She is an incredibly healthy woman, both mentally and physically. She is smart as a whip, but she suffered significant injuries in the accident, including broken bones and a category 1 brain bleed and concussion. We all live in different parts of the country, but we stay closely connected through the power technology has given to us.
A week later and post-surgery to help start to repair broken bones, my mom is now back in her apartment uptown, recovering. Bones will all heal, and while her face is bruised and swollen, she is communicating well, moving around, and she’s feisty as can be when it comes to getting back to business.
And the thing is – she WILL be back to business, because of the instantaneous response and communication of her Apple Watch.
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