Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-18-2021, 03:41 PM
 
15,759 posts, read 14,361,494 times
Reputation: 11814

Advertisements

I have a sister who getting old and has health issues. She recently fell, couldn't get up, and had to call 911. This led to a hospital and rehab stay. Luckily she wasn't really hurt, and she's gotten strong enough that they're willing to parole her back to her apartment.

But because of this she wants a pushbutton system that will summon help if she can't get to a phone. She's been calling some of the services. They seem pretty expensive, and include monthly/annual monitoring fees.

I had the same issue with my late mother back when she had gotten to roughly the same condition. I got her a stand alone system that was essentially a reverse answering machine. When she pushed the button, it would call a few numbers and play a message that someone needed help. Of course my mother refused to carry the button, but that's a different story.

I'm looking for the modern equivalent of this. Now that cellphones are ubiquitous, there are some single function cellular devices that serve this purpose. Push the button, and it calls 911 on the cell system. They also have fall detection on GPS capability.

I randomly found one on Amazon. Below is the link.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyAngel911FD...st_sto_dp&th=1

I am not endorsing this. I haven't bought it yet. All I know about it is what I read on the page. It's just a sample of what I'm looking for.

Does anyone here have experience with these type of devices, and have any they recommend?

Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-18-2021, 05:38 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania/Maine
3,704 posts, read 2,639,414 times
Reputation: 6207
My mom paid $90 a month for Life Alert (mandatory 2 or 3 year contract, I forget). You press the button and they call 911 for you. Really.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2021, 06:56 PM
 
Location: The Bubble, Florida
3,305 posts, read 2,262,803 times
Reputation: 9733
Quote:
Originally Posted by zalewskimm View Post
My mom paid $90 a month for Life Alert (mandatory 2 or 3 year contract, I forget). You press the button and they call 911 for you. Really.
Your mom chose the super-duper package then. It doesn't just call 911 for you. They provide 2-way communication and GPS tracking so if mom is feeling sick in the middle of the parking lot at the supermarket, or feels disoriented and gets lost on some street she doesn't recognize, they won't need her to give them her exact address. It also includes cell phone service, so she doesn't need to be home with her landline phone, as long as she owns a cell phone and carries it with her.

Meanwhile, you can get other brands for a lot less that do pretty much the same thing. There's one called Bay something, or Something Bay, that's like $20/month, or you can upgrade with more devices and buttons you can stick to the wall low in the bathroom so if you fall you can reach it easily, for I think $29.95/month.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-21-2021, 10:32 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,372 posts, read 4,795,036 times
Reputation: 7914
I've been thinking about this myself after watching President Biden fall up the stairs of Air Force One repeatedly. It seemed even more distressing that nobody ran to help him, and he had to limp up the stair case alone and confused, apparently not even aware where he was.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-21-2021, 10:37 PM
 
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
12,976 posts, read 7,354,658 times
Reputation: 9711
tried life alert but mom didn't want to use device.
Today, "Alexa," "Siri" or other similar devices would be substitutes.

A inexpensive phone would also work with a quick dial.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-22-2021, 08:53 AM
 
9,744 posts, read 7,563,362 times
Reputation: 24199
We had something for my MIL that was a necklace and ran about $75 every 3 months.

I fell a few months ago, broke my arms and Siri was my lifeline! I can't say enough good things about how Siri helped me in the hospital and during recovery:

Hey Siri call Joe Smith mobile on speaker

Hey Siri read my last text

Hey Siri who just called

Hey Siri text Joe Smith

Hey Siri call Dr Jones on speaker

Hey Siri turn on the flashlight

My mother just got out of rehab again and she carries her phone everywhere around the house now, just in case.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-23-2021, 09:27 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,372 posts, read 4,795,036 times
Reputation: 7914
Siri will call 911 even if all you do is say "hey siri nine eleven" even though "nine eleven" isn't the same as "nine one one". I find it sad to believe somebody is getting $1,080 per year plus equipment purchases for life alert. Does life alert know your GPS coordinates and what address you are at? Siri does.

Does anybody know if the apple watch has functionality that would help in something like this? In this case somebody wouldn't even need to be near the phone (other than bluetooth distance) and could the watch be programmed to call for help automatically if the wearer can't move or the vitals go bad? Life alert seems like a good technology if it was 1990.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-24-2021, 09:16 PM
 
289 posts, read 487,419 times
Reputation: 337
Yes, the Apple Watch does something like this. My mom has one. It will even call for help if it detects that she falls... without her calling (as I understand it). That way, if she were to fall and seriously injure herself, or if she had a stroke/heart issue and couldn’t call, it would call for her. I am not up on the tech details... might want to check with Apple store to find out how it works. I think it may link to her cell phone, but they don’t have to be in the same place (another safety feature... I can see where she is from two states away when I log in on her apple acct. That way if she isn’t answering her phone, I can find out where she is) I think the Apple Watch can also detect heart issues, like blood pressure or Afib?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-26-2021, 12:25 AM
 
3,199 posts, read 7,795,008 times
Reputation: 2519
My mom got one but I’m not sure the name. You pay month to month. It only works inside the home and she wears a button around her neck

I had brought it up for a couple years cause she was falling. She didn’t want it. Then she fell and broke her arm. She couldn’t get up on her own. That made her realize living alone she needed one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-26-2021, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,060 posts, read 83,928,707 times
Reputation: 114306
Quote:
Originally Posted by zalewskimm View Post
My mom paid $90 a month for Life Alert (mandatory 2 or 3 year contract, I forget). You press the button and they call 911 for you. Really.
I think that's the one we used for my mother, but we paid for a few hundred a year for it, once a year. $300 and change, IIRC.

She had it for two or three years and wore it around her neck. Then one day she fell in the bathroom and couldn't get up (turned out she had cracked her pelvis). She pushed the button, and the police and ambulance were at her house in minutes. It was worth every single dollar just for that one time.

We sent the device back to the company when she died.
__________________
Moderator posts are in RED.
City-Data Terms of Service: http://www.city-data.com/terms.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top