A Sydney personal trainer was left in utter shock after around 15 armed police officers turned up to his gym while he was teaching a client.
Muay Thai fighter and boxing trainer, Jamie Alleyne, 34, who works for PTJ Gladesville in the Lower North Shore, was wearing his Apple Watch (Series 7) when it activated Siri and accidentally called Emergency Services.
It was about 7.45am on Tuesday when Jamie said a police officer entered the gym while he was training his first client for the day.
“I heard someone come in and I looked around and noticed it was a police officer. I said, ‘Hey there mate, can I help you?’” Jamie told news.com.au.
“He walked inside and said they received a call about gun shots.
“I was thinking ‘Oh God’ and I told him I hadn’t heard anything.”
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Jamie said the officer then walked around and asked who else was in the gym, to which he responded two other trainers.
“And then next minute about 15 officers including undercovers showed up, with several ambulances parked out the front, and that’s when I started bricking myself thinking am I suspect or something.
“All of them came in and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ One of them asked who Jamie Avery-or something was and I said, ‘I am Jamie Alleyne.’
“He told me I was the one who made the call which was impossible because I didn’t even have my phone on me.”
After an officer told him to check his dialled numbers, to Jamie’s shock he saw two calls were made to 112 – which is an alternate number for emergency services – as well as a voicemail from NSW Ambulance saying they received his call and ambulance crews and officers have been dispatched.
The trainer said he was wearing his Apple Watch while holding pads for his client and the pressure of the button against his wrist must have activated Siri.
“I ended up taking off my watch because it was uncomfortable and also Siri kept popping up and during that time I was yelling out combos.”
Jamie was yelling out the combinations “1-1-2” – while also telling his client “good shot” – and that’s when he and the officers realised what had possibly happened.
“The button is on the side of the watch and if it is pressed down for long enough, Siri is activated and in that time I must have yelled out ‘1-1-2’, it called emergency and they heard the impact of the pads and me saying ‘good shot’ or ‘nice shot’.”
Jamie said the officers initially thought it was a suicide – and he said he was very impressed by their response time.
“They were out here so fast – their response time was amazing and I commend them for that – but thankfully it wasn’t anything serious.
“I was extremely apologetic and as a joke one of the officers said, ‘You have to fight one of us now,’ and I laughed and said, ‘It’s not going to be you, you big unit.’”
Following the incident, Jamie immediately called his boss Andrew Parnham and explained what had happened.
“He thought it was funny – serious but funny. He couldn’t believe it.”
Jamie has now deactivated Siri.
Apple Watch emergency SOS feature
One of the ways to make a Siri request, is to press and hold the Digital Crown and then speak your request.
In this case Emergency SOS was accidentally activated and when the call is made your Apple Watch automatically calls the local emergency services and shares your location with them.
When the call ends, your Apple Watch will send your emergency contacts a text message with your current location, unless you choose to cancel.
There’s a few ways to activate emergency services: One way it to press and hold the watch’s side button (the button below the Digital Crown) until the Emergency Call slider appears.
Another way is to drag the Emergency Call slider to start the call immediately. Or you can keep holding the side button, then after a countdown your watch will call the emergency services automatically.
Meanwhile, if your iPhone or Apple Watch detects a severe car crash, your device can help connect you to emergency services.
Earlier this year, emergency crews were called to Bringelly, in Sydney’s southwest, where a 53-year-old woman suffered minor injuries after her van rolled over.
It’s believed her Apple Watch alerted crews to the crash.
