Apple Watch helps diagnose something it wasn’t designed to find

A Cleveland man credited the Apple Watch with saving his life, after a series of different alerts prompted him to get medical attention.

In October, Ken Counihan was informed by his Apple Watch that his breathing rate was elevated. The wearable device advised that he had gone from an average of 14 breaths per minute to about 18 per minute.

“My wife made me call my son and he suggested that I go to the outpatient care, that I look at it, which I did,” Counihan said. News 5 Cleveland. “And they only did an x-ray. And they gave me some medicine for bronchitis at the time.”

While he thought that was all, the Apple Watch raised a connection alert, prompting more attempts.

“My blood oxygen — which is usually in the mid-90s, which is supposed to be, like, 95 and up — started getting out into the mid-80s,” he explained. The late-night alarm didn’t faze the man, but at the urging of his worried family, he went to the ER again.

Using figures he collected from the Apple Watch, doctors ordered more scans and discovered blood clots in his lungs. His doctor advised that, had he not sought help, approximately 60% of people at that stage might not have survived the night.

Now on blood thinners, Counihan is happy and grateful that the Apple Watch pointed him in the right direction. Although the Apple Watch cannot directly diagnose medical problems, it seems that the various alerts and measures that it compiles about a user were enough to point doctors in the right direction.

“I have friends who have gone out and bought an Apple Watch as a result,” he told the report. “I just had dinner with a friend the other night and he’s looking to get an Apple Watch now too. It saved my life. It’s amazing.”

The Apple Watch has been cited numerous times as a catalyst for life-saving aid since its release. Earlier in March, it helped a British author discover an undiagnosed heart problem, while the Krash Detection feature helped doctors reach a vehicle involved in a car crash in Germany after it was thrown 60 feet below the road.