Woman’s Fitbit Saved Her Life After Detecting Spike In Her Heart Rate

Wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers are incredibly handy tools for those who hit the gym regularly and want to keep track of their stats. However it seems that thanks to the tech built into these devices, they could also help keep track of a person’s overall health, as 73-year old Patricia Lauder from Connecticut discovered.

Lauder noticed that her Fitbit was logging a high resting heart rate of over 140 beats per minute. This is compared to her regular resting heart rate of 60-70 bpm, according to a report from CNN, which clearly meant that something was not right. It was alarming enough where she called 911 and had to be sent to the emergency ward.

According to a scan that was conducted at the hospital, it was revealed that she had blood clots in both her lungs that were forcing her heart to work extra hard to compensate for the lower oxygen levels. She was then treated for the clots which were gone within 24 hours, and her lungs and heart went back to functioning normally.

This isn’t the first time a wearable has helped save a life. Last year a man’s Apple Watch helped him identify that he might be suffering from a heart attack, which saved his life as had he gone to sleep, he might never have woken up. While these wearables certainly aren’t meant to replace a doctor or healthcare professional, they do come in handy in situations like these.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: fitbit, Fitness, Health, Wearable Tech