Smart watch crash detection alerts Belleville police to ambulance crash

An Apple Watch’s crash detection feature alerted emergency services after an ambulance crashed outside of Belleville Wednesday, police say.

Emergency crews responded to the single-vehicle crash involving a Hastings-Quinte EMS (HQEMS) ambulance on Shannon Road, west of Scuttlehole Road in Thurlow Township around 3:40 p.m.

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The ambulance was not carrying a patient at the time, police say.

Two HQEMS paramedics were taken to Belleville General Hospital with minor injuries.

According to Apple’s website, crash detection is designed to detect severe car crashes and automatically calls emergency services if the user is unable to respond after a 20-second delay.

Shannon Road was closed to traffic for nearly four hours while police investigated and the scene was cleaned up.

Belleville police’s traffic safety unit is continuing to investigate.