How to use this Apple Watch feature that saved the lives of a woman and her child

Smart gadgets come with many features and some of them can be life-saving if used correctly. A woman and her infant child escaped a possible death by using a feature in Apple Watch.

Kacie Anderson, a 24-year-old from Hannover, said in a letter to Apple that she and her nine-month-old baby met with an accident late last year when a truck hit her car while stopping at a red light, but the SOS feature in the Apple Watch managed to get her help on time, according to Shape.

"The moment he hit us everything inside the car went airborne. My face took a horrible blow to the steering wheel, headrest, back to the steering wheel, and then to the window. I blacked out for about a minute and could not see. My eyes were wide open but all I saw was black," Anderson told Shape. "My hands flew around to feel for my phone and then I realized I had my watch on and commanded it to call 911."

She couldn't find her phone but realised that she had her watch. So, she commanded it to called 911, and the ambulance came to the accident scene. She credited Apple Watch for saving her and her son.

The accident left her with two ruptured muscles in the neck, confusion for weeks and a back injury, while her son only suffered bruising.

Apple Watch has an emergency SOS feature that allows users to easily send out a message or alert their emergency contacts in times of distress.

How to use SOS feature on Apple Watch?

Press and hold the side button on your Apple Watch until the Emergency SOS slider appears. It will automatically call 911, local emergency number or the numbers you have set as emergency contacts when the countdown ends. It will also send your emergency contacts a text message with your current location after the call ends unless you disable the option.

Your contacts will continue to get an update if your location changes. You can select Stop Sharing in the notification to stop the updates. You can also firmly press the display and tap End Call in case you have accidentally started an emergency call.

However, it may be noted that your phone has to be nearby you or your Apple Watch is connected to a known Wi-Fi network (set up Wi-Fi Calling) to use SOS feature. The feature is also compatible with only the iPhone 5 and beyond.

You can add emergency contacts from the Health app on your iPhone by tapping tap the Medical ID tab, tap edit then scroll to Emergency Contacts. There, tap the green plus icon and then add relationship by tapping the contact. You can also remove the emergency numbers by tapping the red plus icon on Emergency Contacts.

If you want to make calls to emergency number automatically by pressing the side button, you have to enable single-press SOS feature in the setting.