Google’s new Breathing Emergency Alerts are coming to Pixel Watch 4

Google’s Breathing Emergency Detection is one of the new health-related features coming with the Pixel Watch 5, and now Google has announced it will be bringing it to the Pixel Watch 4 as well. Breathing Emergency Detection is one of a few new Health Guardian features that were introduced with Google’s latest smartwatch. Insulin Resistance Trends and Blood Pressure Trends are two more that users will be able to take advantage of.

For Breathing Emergency Detection, the feature works by watching for signs that a person’s blood oxygen levels have dropped to a dangerously low point. If that happens and then the person becomes unresponsive, then the feature takes over and automatically contacts both emergency services and that person’s emergency contacts. The aim with this feature is to give users a tool that could mean the difference between life and death for them.

The feature also has built-in mechanics to help avoid false detection, where it confirms that the person hasn’t been sleeping for 30 minutes or more. Google says this is implemented because false detection can happen with conditions like sleep apnea

Breathing Emergency Detection is not available on the Pixel Watch 4 in the US

While the new feature is coming to the Pixel Watch 4 and the Pixel Watch 5, it won’t be available in the US right away. As with other smartwatch features from both Google and Samsung, Breathing Emergency Detection hasn’t been approved yet in the US.

Google will first need to get this feature approved before it can push the feature out to US users of either smartwatch model. In its official blog post, Google says that this feature will be available on both watches in the UK, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and other European countries. Google does confirm that it will continue working to expand the availability to other regions, but offers no explanation of which regions those will be or when users will be able to expect the feature arrival.

For Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel Watch 5 owners in supported countries, it’ll be available through a software update.