Fall detection not working

Question

My elderly mom is a fall risk so we were excited that her new Pixel watch has fall detection. OS is updated to 11 and all other features work except the one we really wanted. Fall detection (and feedback) is enabled and I'm in the US. I've fake fallen (with great force and in very dramatic fashion, I must say) several times, lying perfectly still for far longer than 30 seconds, with no beeps or alarms from the watch and no notifications sent to the primary contact (me, not emergency services). I know the literature says the watch can't detect ALL falls but so far it hasn't detected ANY. That's concerning because if its truly that unreliable, we'll need to explore other options.
Am I doing something wrong or is it really that bad at actually detecting falls?

p-r · Accepted Answer

That's unfortunate to hear, because I bought my elderly mom the Pixel LTE watch for the same purpose after she refused a medical device. I figured as a consumer device the watch wasn't going to be as effective as a medical device for falls, but most elderly people won't wear a medical device due to stigma, will take it off frequently, etc., so at least the LTE watch is stylish and non-stigmatizing. My mom loves it, actually, but it's a bit moot if it's not even detecting hard falls.
I suspected this might be the case and figured the majority of hard falls aren't likely to result in a loss of consciousness anyway, or at least not for more than a moment. I figure she'd be more likely to voice dial 911 via the watch or press the crown button five times, so it's better than nothing. I also added about four Google Nest speakers around her house and bought the Nest Aware addon for 911 dialing.

Benjamin · Accepted Answer

Unfortunately there isn't a way to test this atm.
If you would like, leave feedback with your thoughts and concerns in the pixel watch app. That goes directly to the team to review. Open pixel watch app, scroll to the bottom, tips and support, feedback.