Doctor Saves Woman's Life On Flight Using Apple Watch's Blood Oxygen Feature (Photo by Vladislav Bychkov on Unsplash)

Apple smartwatches recently made headlines as the tech giant decided to exclude the blood oxygen monitoring feature from the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Apple was forced to take this decision as a result of a patent dispute between Apple and Masimo, a medical tech company. However, Apple Watch”s blood oxygen feature has reportedly helped save a woman”s life on a flight recently.

A BBC report published on January 22 said that Rashid Riaz, a National Health Service (NHS) doctor, used an Apple Watch to aid an elderly woman who suffered a medical emergency on a Ryanair flight from the UK to Italy. As per the report, a 70-year-old woman experienced shortness of breath while traveling. The doctor then stepped up to help the woman as crew members sought a doctor on board to assist in emergency.

Notably, the doctor also borrowed an Apple Watch from a flight attendant to gauge the blood oxygen levels of the woman. The doctor also discovered that the woman had a history of heart issues. “The Apple Watch helped me find out the patient had low oxygen saturation,” Rashid Riaz said, as quoted by the BBC. The doctor also asked flight attendants for an on-board oxygen cylinder. The report mentioned that this allowed the doctor to monitor and maintain the woman”s saturation levels until they safely landed in Italy.

“It is a lesson in how we can improve in-flight journeys with this sort of emergency via a basic gadget which nowadays is easily available,” added the doctor. Rashid Riaz also praised the flight attendants who dealt with the medical emergency.

On the other hand, Apple recently announced that the ability to measure blood oxygen is no longer available on Apple Watch units sold by Apple in the United States. Apple made this crucial move to avoid patent violations.