Increase of 911 calls after phones and watches think their skiing owners are hurt

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - An upgrade to the safety features of the Apple Watch and iPhone 14s is providing false calls to the 911 dispatch center in South Lake Tahoe as well as those in other ski areas.

This new software upgrade is meant to detect car crashes and automatically alert 911 dispatchers. It is so sensitive though, when a skier or snowboarder falls in the snow, the device calls for help, thinking the user has been hurt.

"We have seen an increase in these calls over the past few years," said Jillian Gard, South Lake Tahoe public safety dispatch supervisor. "Clearly, the majority of these calls are at Heavenly or Sierra. Sometimes we can speak to the person and they can advise us they are ok."

With an increase of snow enthusiasts at Lake Tahoe this winter Gard says they've seen a big increase, especially on weekends, but better mapping technology has helped the dispatchers.

"Often times the GPS will show us they are on the mountain so that is helpful if we need to coordinate with ski patrol," said Gard.

Before the Caldor Fire, dispatchers would see a crash detection in the area of Sierra rather than up on the mountain, said Gard, but "this season it has been much more accurate."

The majority of the calls come from watches but dispatchers have received calls from the phones sending out a distress signal to emergency contacts.

South Lake Tahoe's dispatchers are usually able to get a hold of the subscriber to verify they are uninjured, but it does take some time if they get several a day. Calls out to first responders are not high due to the diligence of staff before that radio call is made.

The New York Times did a recent story on this situation in Summit County, Colorado. They said their dispatch received 185 calls from Apple devices in just one week in January, and their normal call volume is half that. Their dispatch director said the onslaught was threatening to "desensitize dispatchers and divert limited resources from true emergencies.

The new crash detection feature gives users 10 seconds to act upon the alert message that goes out. If the user does not respond the device will start a 10-second countdown while sounding an alarm while vibrating and tapping, then calling for emergency services. Skiers and riders may not hear their devices due to noise, or the thickness of clothing, so are unaware their fall has triggered the feature on their devices.

Apple told the New York Post "the feature relies on sensors like the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and Apple Watch, along with advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data for increased accuracy."

Some users said they heard the alarm when they fell, but since they fell in the snow a water lock feature did not allow them to shut it off.

This feature can be turned off: Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌, scroll down, and tap through to Emergency SOS, under "Crash Detection," toggle off the switch next to Call After Severe Crash.