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Iphone Medicine AI IOS Operating Systems Software News Apple Technology

Woman Uses 'Hey Siri' To Call An Ambulance and Help Save Her Child's Life (networkworld.com) 208

Posted by BeauHD from the always-listening dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Networkworld: When Apple released the iPhone 6s, it included a great new Siri feature which enables users to activate the intelligent assistant via voice. Dubbed 'Hey Siri,' the feature is particularly convenient because the iPhone 6s' M9 motion co-processor is 'always listening' and thereby lets users use 'Hey Siri' even when the device isn't connected to a power source. Recently, Stacey Gleeson of Australia used the 'Hey Siri' feature to successfully call an ambulance while she was tending to her daughter Giana who had stopped breathing. "I picked her up and sat down with her on the floor," Gleeson said in an interview. "And as I checked her airways, I looked over and remembered my phone." Thinking quick on her feet, Gleeson said, "Hey Siri, call the ambulance." Fortunately, Gleeson managed to resuscitate her daughter while the ambulance was in route. And while it's impossible to know for sure, it's entirely possible that the time Gleeson saved by not having to call an ambulance manually helped save her daughter's life. "Saving me the trouble of having to physically dial emergency services was a godsend," Gleeson said.
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Woman Uses 'Hey Siri' To Call An Ambulance and Help Save Her Child's Life More

Woman Uses 'Hey Siri' To Call An Ambulance and Help Save Her Child's Life

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  • Yeah - not at all an advert. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by queazocotal ( 915608 ) on Friday June 10, 2016 @08:02AM (#52287683)

    "the feature is particularly convenient because the iPhone 6s' M9 motion co-processor is 'always listening' and thereby lets users use 'Hey Siri' even when the device isn't connected to a power source."

    • Re: Yeah - not at all an advert. (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10, 2016 @08:05AM (#52287707)

      I hole-hardedly agree, but allow me to play doubles advocate here for a moment. For all intensive purposes I think you are wrong. In an age where false morals are a diamond dozen, true virtues are a blessing in the skies. We often put our false morality on a petal stool like a bunch of pre-Madonnas, but you all seem to be taking something very valuable for granite. So I ask of you to mustard up all the strength you can because it is a doggy dog world out there. Although there is some merit to what you are saying it seems like you have a huge ship on your shoulder. In your argument you seem to throw everything in but the kids Nsync, and even though you are having a feel day with this I am here to bring you back into reality. I have a sick sense when it comes to these types of things. It is almost spooky, because I cannot turn a blonde eye to these glaring flaws in your rhetoric. I have zero taller ants when it comes to people spouting out hate in the name of moral righteousness. You just need to remember what comes around is all around, and when supply and command fails you will be the first to go. Make my words, when you get down to brass stacks it doesnt take rocket appliances to get two birds stoned at once. It's clear who makes the pants in this relationship, and sometimes you just have to swallow your prize and accept the facts. You might have to come to this conclusion through denial and error but I swear on my mother's mating name that when you put the petal to the medal you will pass with flying carpets like its a peach of cake.

    • I think what bothers me the most is how there is no mention of any competing platform that has had this feature for, say, 2 years now at least?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Desler ( 1608317 )

        Why would there? What relevance do they have to the story? The story is about a particular situation that involved an iPhone not a comparison article about voice agents n

      • I think what bothers me the most is how there is no mention of any competing platform that has had this feature for, say, 2 years now at least?

        Well, that's because Android users are never in any danger and thus don't need to call an ambulance ever. Because Google keeps them safe with all they know about them.

        Well, I'm joking [fox6now.com]

        Welch used his phone's "OK Google" feature to search heart attack symptoms.

        "I touched a link and up came a list of symptoms. I was realizing that I had all of these symptoms," Welch said.

        So with Siri you call an ambulance, and with Google you search for the symptoms of a heart attack. Minor difference there.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sudon't ( 580652 )

          So with Siri you call an ambulance, and with Google you search for the symptoms of a heart attack. Minor difference there.

          I assume you're being sarcastic here. Obviously it would make a huge difference whether you could get your phone to make an emergency call if you couldn't reach, or operate, your phone, than being able to use voice commands to run a web search, (a function which, incidentally, Macs have had since OS 8, at least). It seems to me that the latter is primarily useful to people who wish to continue playing with their phones as they drive, and then to the minority of people who are handicapped in some way. OTOH,

    • I took this as a comment explaining why it doesn't work on all previous iPhone models.

      I wasn't aware iPhones did this, because I don't know anyone with a 6s.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's funny that the first time this happened didn't get much publicity. I mean, Android phones have had this feature for years so I assume this isn't the first time someone say "ok Google, call 999" or whatever the local variant is.

      I literally LOLed when I saw that advert. Only Apple would advertise a three year old feature as the latest and greatest innovation.

    • Heard on Guard (243.0MHZ): "Hey SIRI, Bandits 070T 56nm raid size 2. Warning Red Weapons Free. Engage missiles"

  • NSA funded story (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10, 2016 @08:05AM (#52287703)

    This is supposed to make us love how its always recording our conversations

  • This is proof that AI and the Singularity is here. Venture Capitalist firms need to invest NOW to get in on the ground floor. Also, we are going to be living on Mars in 10 years and on another star in 50!

  • Turn on your microphones so we can listen or... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by internet-redstar ( 552612 ) on Friday June 10, 2016 @08:21AM (#52287817) Homepage
    Turn on your microphones (which could potentially be used for mass surveillance) or let your children die... Is this an advertisement by Apple or the NSA?

    • Do you really think "they" would need you to turn the microphone on to listen to you if they want to listen to you? I mean, are you people actually thinking for moment before saying such things? If they want to use phones for audio mass surveillance they would be idiots to have to trick you into turning on the microphone first.

      And then? "Damn, he tricked us by disabling Siri! What do we do now?!".

      If you're carrying any connected device with a microphone, using voice recognition or not just does not make a t

    • The Vorlon would answer: Yes.

  • Mother Saves the Daughter's Life (Score:5, Interesting)

    by twmcneil ( 942300 ) on Friday June 10, 2016 @08:26AM (#52287851)
    Kudos to the mom for knowing how to save her child's life. This is important knowledge that every parent should possess and be able to put to use. Great job mom!

    Oh, and she called for an ambulance with her phone.
  • But would she have done so in public?

  • And while it's impossible to know for sure, it's entirely possible that the time Gleeson saved by not having to call an ambulance manually helped save her daughter's life.

    Extremely unlikely. The few seconds difference it might make is lost in the noise in all the factors that affect the response time. This rings as a bullshit justification of constant surveillance: "We're always watching out for you! Like a helpful older sibling."

  • Did this lady not have hands? Because I could see how a lady without hands or arms using Siri to call for help would be newsworthy. Perhaps there was some other reason why she was incapacitated and could not simply dial '911'? Otherwise, what service has Siri provided here, other than saving a second and a half to unlock the phone and dial?

    • Her phone was out of reach. She dropped it when she entered the room.

      • Why was it out of reach? Was she tied up? Is she missing arms and legs? Did the phone fall into a gaping chasm??

        • As I said, she dropped it when she entered the room. She then went to check on her dying child, and, realising an ambulance was required, summoned one in the quickest way possible.

          I don't know why everyone's so annoyed about what happened.

          • It's just because the article is written like it is novel and interesting, but it's not. Often these articles are about apple products but not always.

      • And ... she couldn't turn around and pick it up?

        • Sure she could. But she didn't have to, so why would she?

          Someone, once, was the first person to call an ambulance on a mobile phone. Would you have berated them for not using the landline?

          • If that mobile phone was a smartphone, yes. Walking down the stairs and picking up the landline would probably have been faster than finding the telephony-app in the pile of apps...

          • Sure she could. But she didn't have to, so why would she?

            Because we all know how well voice functions work.

            This story could just as easily been "Woman saves child despite Siri calling her friend Annie instead of the requested ambulance"

            She is lucky it worked out, but taking the 3 seconds to dial 911 would have been the safer choice, imo.

    • Did this lady not have hands?

      That's a good assumption to make. A better assumption is that she was preoccupied with saving someone. In nearly all cases this requires use of said hands which is why in an emergency situation the first thing you do is call for help loudly before you even started things like checking airways. That way if someone comes and the person needs CPR you can actually get started with the important things like CPR while someone else talks on the phone.

  • opened the calendar to Friday and ordered some french fries.

  • Computer: Tea, Earlgrey, hot.

  • Oh. I know. Grabbing the phone, hitting the three numbers necessary to call your emergency service (which is admittedly easier on a real phone but on one that buries that "telephony-app" somewhere between the hundreds of inane apps nobody needs but you can't uninstall) and turn on speakerphone (again, something that's easier on a real phone), putting it down next to her daughter and listening to the emergency service while helping her daughter.

    Nonstory coming your way, film at 11.

  • Someone used a phone! To make a call! Holy shit, you guys! I don't think you understand how important this is! Fuck off.

  • This article should have been about a mother using the Android voice assistant for this to have been taken as a heroic technology example. Of course, she would first have had to yell, "Launch antivirus!" and wait for the phone to be scanned to eliminate the possibility of that ambulance call going to a Nigerian scammer.

    The iPhone is a walled garden, and that's the way I like it.

  • The interesting part missing from the article is that it was actually an NSA agent that called the ambulance...

  • Try editing. WTF does "in route" mean?

  • "OK, I found this on the web for 'call an ambulance'. Take a look:"

  • Fun little prank (Score:3)

    by Toshito ( 452851 ) on Friday June 10, 2016 @03:55PM (#52291297)

    What happens if someone shout "Hey Siri call an ambulance" in a crowded room full of iPhone 6?

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