FALSE ALARM

Falling Skiers’ Apple Watches Blamed for Flurry of Unintentional 911 Calls

A sheriff’s office put a “dramatic increase” in bogus emergency calls down to “fall detection” tech.

An avalanche of unintentional 911 calls are being made by smart watches attached to skiers’ and snowboarders’ when they fall over, authorities in Idaho said. The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office said the devices’ “fall detection” feature has been repeatedly contacting law enforcement from the Schweitzer Mountain ski resort. “Many people don’t know their phones and smart watches do this,” Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said in a Facebook post last week. “Bonner County 911 has seen a dramatic increase in unintentional 911 calls from people enjoying Schweitzer Mountain. Last Saturday, nearly 30 percent of our 911 calls were unintentional 911 calls from people enjoying activities on Schweitzer Mountain.” The agency added that deputies have to treat every 911 call as an emergency and that the blizzard of needless calls “can take emergency resources away from true emergencies somewhere else in the county.”