Veteran tech executive Peter Moore says his Apple Watch saved his life, thanks to its “low heart rate” alerts, which resulted in him having a pacemaker implanted to regulate his heartbeat.
Moore is a long-time player in the tech sector, serving in stints as the head of Sega, Microsoft’s Xbox division, Electronic Arts’ sports division, and CEO of his hometown of Liverpool’s soccer team. Moore is currently SVP and GM of Unity Technologies’ Sports and Live Entertainment division.
Moore was recently headed to the airport to pick up his daughter when he felt “a little lightheaded and a little faint,” he told KTLA reporter Rich DeMuro. “Like a typical male, I thought, ‘I’ll go to Starbucks. That’ll fix it.'”
When his Apple Watch continued to alert him with “low heart rate” warnings he performed an ECG with the Apple Watch, which informed him his heart rate had plunged to 32 beats per minute. (A “normal” not active heart rate usually falls somewhere between 50 and 60 BPM.
Moore pulled over can called his wife. She told him to stay put. She came and picked him up and took him to a nearby hospital.
Once there, Moore says, “the doctor kind of theatrically ran in and said, This is not good. This is not good. You need a pacemaker right now.'” Moore underwent surgery immediately to implant a pacemaker, and now reports that he “feels great.”
“Yes, his watch had a big role in saving his life,” said Omid Yousefian, the cardiac electrophysiologist at Sansum Clinic Cardiology who treated Moore.
“These days, 25% of the population over the age of 40 … have a high chance of experiencing atrial fibrillation,” Yousefian explained.
Moore “was notified by his watch that his heart rate is slow and he correlated that with the symptoms that he had,” said Yousefian. “He didn’t wait. He didn’t sit. He came to the hospital directly. So he made a very smart move.”
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this little device,” Moore said, praising the Apple Watch for “literally informing you about your health in real-time. And in my instance, I think, saving my life.”
The Apple Watch will alert users when their heart rate a certain level for too long when a workout is not detected. The feature has been around since the Apple Watch Series 1, so all Apple Watch models support the feature for users 13 and older.
You can enable notifications from the Heart Rate app on your Apple Watch to alert you to high or low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms.
High and low heart rate notifications
If your heart rate remains above or below a chosen beats per minute (BPM), your Apple Watch can notify you. These notifications are available only on Apple Watch Series 1 or later for ages 13 and up.
You can turn on heart rate notifications when you first open the Heart Rate app on your Apple Watch, or at any time later from your iPhone:
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.
- Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Heart.
- Tap High Heart Rate, then choose a BPM.
- Tap Low Heart Rate, then choose a BPM.
