MONTGOMERY, Ohio -- Debbie Copeland-Bloom said she couldn’t tell her heart was only functioning at 25 percent.
But her smartwatch could.
Copeland-Bloom’s heart wasn’t getting the right electrical signals, which affected how it pumped blood. Her smartwatch showed her heart rate was at 155 to 165 beats per minute. (A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute.)
Copeland-Bloom didn’t believe she had a high heart rate, until a second device showed the same thing.
Her doctor ran some tests and sent her to the emergency room, but it could have been much worse.
Copeland-Bloom’s Apple Watch helped her catch a potentially dangerous heart rhythm at a point where doctors could correct it, Mercy Health Cardiologist Jefferson Burroughs said.
Burroughs said it’s becoming common for people to use smart gadgets to track their heart rhythm remotely and send the data to physicians.
“These types of devices help us more frequently manage arrhythmia we know exists,” Burroughs said.
Copeland-Bloom said she knows at least one person who bought a smartwatch after her scare, and she continues to wear hers.
“I believe that the watch saved my life,” she said.
