Way OT:LifeAlert or Similar? Your experience

Some may recall I was having care issues with my folks especially my dad. He is home now with my mom and it is evident that they can be alone with varying degrees of care, like meals, and meds. My question is do any of you have any first hand experience with life alert or other call buttons? A Net search yielded dozens. Some sounding good, others sounding fishy. Which is best. I want the one that can call a list of relatives first and/or 911.

my grandmother had the original life alert for over 20 years...worked fine for her.

You can get cell phones that will have a 911 button, if they carry the phone and have an issue they press 911, even if they can't speak most 911 centers have been forced to update their systems to identify the phone location from GPS chip in the phone. I don't know how the price compares to life alert or the others. With the phone they can also program friends, family, medical contacts and their ICE (In Case of Emergency) into the phone giving the first responders a little more to work with of they have to help your parents and for what ever reason they (your parents)can't speak.

BCnT,

My dad (84 and in very poor health) has one that I think he got at Walmart. His is a model that has GPS in and will work from anywhere... say he goes to my mom's gravesite and falls in the cemetery - as long as he is able to push the button, they will locate him through the GPS. (I think he began with life alert, but it was only good to a distance of 500 feet from the base and was actually more costly). **I will try to remember to get the name of it and post to your attention in a day or so.)

Even though one of my divorced sisters lives with dad - he is alone all day while she is at work. About 2 weeks ago he was ill with pneumonia and a skin infection all over his leg. He fell and could not get up - pushed the button and I think my sister responded first, then called an ambulance but I am not certain of the details. At any rate, if he did not have it - he would have layed there for hours.

The wife used to install Lifeline when she worked for home healthcare. Pretty good unit as far as I know. She worked out of Carson City Hospital,so evidently the service is good on them in this area.

Where we live there is no Cell Service.

Got my Mom Life-Alert last year, after she fell and broke her hip and could not get to the phone. You can program it to call predesignated numbers before it calls 911. It makes me feel better and she feels secure in getting help.

We tested it and she can even talk to me through the remote.

One time purchase price and no monthly charges. Although, I'll pay whatever it takes to make sure she is safe.

I like it!

My brother bought one for my mother to wear around her neck. Well she has dementia and doesn't remember she is wearing it. One day she pushed the button not knowing what it was for - we know it works!

Our experience with life alert was not positive. One never seems to know exactly when dementia sets in with older folks. As an example, we didn't know what "sunshining" was until we started learning the terms nursing homes apply to the elderly. My FIL started pushing the button when he wanted a glass of water. Here came EMS & fire truck. Had to quit the service. My wife and I spent 15 years caring for our elderly parents in our home; they're all gone now. I had to create a home based business to pay the bills. Caring for parents who have dementia and then Alzheimer's is not a walk in the park, but educating yourself and being there objectively for them is far better than some paid for gadget. One book, "the 36 hour day" is a good reference.

be careful, my MIL had one, watch the contract. the one she had made us keep paying even after she passed away. she actually refused to use it, would call my wife any time of the day or night, dementia. we felt like they were taking advantage of the situation. maybe it was just the company we signed up with, or they maight be all the same.

That would not be Life Alert then. One time purchase and that is it,

Check your local home health care supply stores for a service (the ones that rent hospital beds etc) ... Mom got hers thru a local health care supply store that runs their own service it runs $30 a month,,, works well and worth it....

We had one for my Dad. Ours was from an alarm co. rite in town here and worked great.I think it was a rental unit $ 10.00 pre month.
If he pressed the button we got the call first then they called the Ambelance or police.

With the cell phones locating is a big problem as they can only come to within about 5 miles of where the phone is. Not a street address as with a landline phone. Have not had to use 911 for a couple of years but before that in my job did use it several times. Would go to closest call station even when in different county. Got so when I would have to use it I would say this is for xxxxxx county as usualy it would go to yyyyyy or zzzzzz county. Then they would forward it to the correct county.

I got one for my Dad about a year ago, still have it. Cost is $30 a month and nothing else. They ship it to you no cost. You set it up, very easy and give them a call. Simple all the way. You keep the box because you must return the unit when you no longer need it or they will continue to charge the $30 per month or you can tell them you lost the box and they will send another box for a fee. I have Dad test it about every other month. They answer promptly and they all speak english, a huge plus for him and I. Very friendly and willing to help anyway they can. I can"t say enough good about them, I"m impressed. I found them online just as you did, but I did a few hours of research looking for feedback. These folks had super feedback so I ordered it online. It arrived UPS in about 4 days. Monthy fee does not start until you call them to set it up.
You can set it up to call who you want in whatever order you want. In my case, it calls me first but since I"m 4 or 5 miles away it also calls a nearby neighbor who has a key. If no answers then it will call 911, again you set it up how you want. Dad did not want 911 called unless I could arrive to make decisions for him. The little fob can be made into a watch thing for the arm or on a string around the neck. He wears it on his wrist. It"s waterproof so they have it with them in the bath, another huge plus since that is where a lot of the elderly fall.
This one came from Life Station in Sheepshead Bay NY. Phone number is 1-877-833-2020. Web is www.LifeStation.com This info I"m reading off the box that I kept here so I didn"t disapear at his house!
Again, I got this about a year ago so the prices may be different now...not sure. I had him test it about 3 weeks ago while I listened. The unit is at least 30 feet away from his lift chair and they hear him fine and he can hear them great (it"s very loud if you ask them to make it that way) and since he"s hard of hearing it"s great.
Good luck which ever way you go. I can tell you it sure gives peace of mind for the parent and child. Remember, don"t ever consider it a babysitter. If they go completly out they can"t push the button so you must continue to check on them regularly! My reason for purchase, he fell and fractured his pelvis in 2 places and was unable to get up. He managed to scoot on the floor and found his cell phone (he couldn"t reach the land line phone) and he called me. This was about 3 AM. I went over and got him up and called for an ambulance. 2 month stay in a nursing home and he"s been home by himself since with the added security of his button, my visits and a few visits from neighbors now and then. BTW, he"s 89 and has many problems including bladder cancer BUT he"s home where he is happy which makes me happy!

Tom, as a follow up to what I just posted. I just went and looked at the website. I pay 29.95 per month but you can get it for less. I chose the monthly so if he passed I could turn it back in and not continue to pay the monthly fee. I see you can get it for even less if order quarterly or annually. Of course you would be liable for the remainder of the contract time you ordered.
Also I forgot to mention, when I tell him to test it while I'm there I never say anything, I just let him do the talking. They always ask of someone else is with him and he says yes my son. They ask if he's OK and want to verify all is OK. When I get home I always have an Email from them confirming the test was completed and the date and time etc. Very thorough and complete. Definetly not a business run by Wal Mart!!!

Only problem I hear of is the things use the phone line to call for help.

Not a problem unless the owner has only a single phone line.

What happened to a 95 year old fellow who lived alone in our little town, was that he tried to make a call from his wall mounted phone. The old fellow fell backwards with the phone in his hand.

He had his call button around his neck, but it would not work because he had the phone off the hook, so the call button could not access the single busy( wall phone off the hook) line.
What he needed to be safe was a second phone line elclusivly for the Help button.

Yep, that could indeed happen! My Dad has a single line. The unit does have a battery backup so if there is a power failure the button will still work. Still a bit of a relief to know he has it, one he11 of a lot better than what he had before. Piece of mind, a feeling of security. Nothing more, nothing less. His is programmed to call my cell which is on my hip most of the time and at night on the nightstand. Nothing is perfect, but we make the moves that we decide are the best. Only way to know if we were wrong are always known after the fact. Never pre-judge, your usually proved wrong.

Get the one that bars use: "Help! I've fallen and can't reach my beer!" Help will be on the way promptly.

About a dozen years ago. I got hooked up with one that was operated by the providence hospital system. My wife at the time needed something cause she could't always reach the phone. That system would take over the house phone line (even if it was in use ) and call their operator. The operator then had access to a responder list of people that were willing to come over and help, (and could get past 2 100 lb dogs). If no one was available, they then would call 911 and bring help that way. The dogs would let the crew on the fire engine in, but only if they got there first. If ambulance or rescue got there first, the pound got called to coral the dogs.
Tim in OR