Comment by brlewis | Hacker News Reader

Comment by brlewis | Hacker News Reader

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>if my Fitbit notices that my heart rate has gone below 40 BPM for more than 10 seconds I get a notification, as it is almost indicative of an attack of Autonomic Dysreflexia. I can honestly say that this home automation system has actually saved my life without an ounce of hyperbole.

I'm a #FitbitEmployee but I don't speak for Fitbit. Speaking personally, I'm happy that it's worked well for you so far, but I'm concerned if it's likely that your life will depend on consistently good HR from a Fitbit. Although manufacturing has improved a lot since Charge HR days, they still aren't medical-grade devices. You should talk to a medical professional about what to use to monitor your heart rate.

Thank you for your concern, but I never and would never place my life in the hands of any one piece of anything really. Be that technology, person or process.

The Fitbit has given me a heads up a little earlier than I otherwise would have got it, the value added for me is that it's cheap and a great indicator. But an indicator is all it is and it is part of a wider protocol we have in the house for preventing and detecting Autonomic Dysreflexia. A vital part, but still just one component.

I do wish I could turn off the step counter though, and if it could detect when I'm asleep that would also be great. The former I don't think I'm ever going to do very well on and the latter is really not the fault of the device as I don't move around very much at all.

Thanks again for your concern! :-)

Good hearted advice but lacking in few aspects. Most medical products are terrible with open integrations and open standards.

I suspect this kind of advice is given by consumer companies for fear of liability than anything else.

In many cases, medical devices that have consumer equivalents don't have anything extra than a better written user agreement and little more liability.

The distinction between medical and non-medical devices is meaningful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_device

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