Second hand or digital seconds

That "always on" setting mentioned above should work for EMT/medic needs.

As a retired medic, Apple Watch just doesn’t do this very well, and the default displays I’ve tried will all mask the seconds.

I’ve used the stopwatch app, counting up, which is clunky, but works.

Asking Siri for a countdown is probably the best available option, and the one I’ve most commonly used, and it works with gloves. “Hey Siri, set a timer for 30 seconds.” Then find the pulse, and count for 20 seconds. Etc. Requires cellular coverage, and not so great with ambient noise. But works, and works hands-free.

There may well now be some pulse-counting apps available in the app store now, I’ve not gone looking for those in a while.

Cheap carabiner-style watches placed on the kit bags, and a big clock mounted on the back wall of the ambulance helped avoid this whole problem, as getting my wrist visible wasn’t always practical. Particularly given my preferred gloves covered further up the wrist, and given the use of turnouts or other protective gear. And if one of the carabiner watches gets contaminated, toss it. Or wrap the carabiner watches in plastic film, and avoid that.

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squareman wrote:

That "always on" setting mentioned above should work for EMT/medic needs.

If you’re referring to the Series 5 and later display feature, it doesn’t. Watch drops into low-powered mode even with the display still lit, and that masks the seconds. Minutes is fine for logging data, but not so good for timing respirations, pulse, contractions, or such.

When the watch dims, it's going down to an extremely low refresh rate to save on your battery. This is why it won't show seconds, nor anything else that needs live updating, in that scenario. If you want it to show you seconds longer after raising your wrist, you can mess with the delay settings on your phone under Watch.app > General > Wake Screen > On Tap > Wake for 70 Seconds. Then, when you tap the screen, instead of only raising it to wake it, it will remain active for at least 70 seconds.

If you need a second hand longer than that, you'll need to rely on something like launching the stopwatch or timer apps.

You can also use Siri to start a timer for you. The crown can be pressed with gloves on or not to invoke Siri. Or if you have AirPods in, you can simply say "hey siri".

Do you have the 'Always On' feature enabled?

Use the Always On feature with your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Choose a watch face that displays seconds like this;

Mine doesn't.