Home Medical Alert system?

I wasn't sure where to put this, this seemed the most appropriate place. To make a long story short, my mother is moving in with my sister - they are in Tennessee. Our mom's health isn't so good, and for a couple of other reasons it seems time. Mom is getting a nice set of rooms upstairs, but both my sister and I are concerned about those stairs. So I am considering getting Mom one of those medical alert bracelets where she can call for help should something happen when she is home alone and paying the monthly fee for her...

Does anyone here have any experience with these? I've searched for information of course, and am still researching it. My sister doesn't have a landline so I will need to determine what options might exist for her.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this also; my mom will be home alone eventually.

I am a big fan of these items, they have saved many of my patients that have fallen. I don't know of one without a land line, though. I'm sure there is one, though.

Along with this topic comes the obvious questions concerning living wills, power of attorney, advance directives. I don't mean to pry, but have you had this important discussion? How old is your Mom?

We've talked about it. Has anything been done? Of course not, Mom is the Queen of Denial. Must talk again....

snap "has a living will" dragen

My Mom has one of those med alert units in her Florida place and it does connect to the landline. However, the laundry room is outside her villa and the med alert unit wouldn't be of assistance if she fell out there-- out of range. We looked into the SPOT Personal Tracker...
http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=101
This was a promising option, but we didn't get her one since she ended up planning to come up north shortly thereafter. We simply got her a lanyard for her cell phone so she could have it on hand when she did her laundry in the meantime.

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Originally Posted by wnyrider

My Mom has one of those med alert units in her Florida place and it does connect to the landline. However, the laundry room is outside her villa and the med alert unit wouldn't be of assistance if she fell out there-- out of range. We looked into the SPOT Personal Tracker...
http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=101
This was a promising option, but we didn't get her one since she ended up planning to come up north shortly thereafter. We simply got her a lanyard for her cell phone so she could have it on hand when she did her laundry in the meantime.

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Hmmmm, this is interesting. Mom does have a cell phone, so perhaps your lanyard solution would be an appropriate option as well. I suspect the SPOT unit wouldn't be much different in size, and perhaps be larger. Good food for discussion with my sister.

Mom is 71, and while she does have health issues, I think she does pretty good for someone who has had cancer, and a few chronic health problems. She is moving in with my sister more for financial reasons at this point, and I am looking for ways that I can help out. I don't have a lot myself, but I don't want all of the burden to be on my sister. While my relationship with my mother has been far from normal for my entire 51 years, she still IS my mother...Thanks for the comments!

If you can help your sister with some respite, I'm sure they'll both appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by malkin

If you can help your sister with some respite, I'm sure they'll both appreciate it.

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I would if I were closer than 500 miles away...but I get down when I can.

We're setting my mom up with one this coming week. It will be tied into a landline.

I wouldn't recommend a SPOT for that application. Too big, too heavy, no easy way to carry it on one's person. Reportedly, battery life on the new units is less than one day - the long distance moto people have been complaining bitterly about it.

They're more for active people on day trips out of cell phone range. Like us cyclists.... In spite of the short battery life, the new SPOTs are small and light enough to carry on a bici, unlike the old ones. But they're still more the size of a camera than a phone.

Drifty, but there's no age at which "the conversation" is more or less appropriate than any other age. Says the one who nearly broke my neck last month and STILL haven't tightened up my Living Will as I've been meaning to do for over a year. :rolleyes:

If you have old cell phones that you haven't recycled, I believe they're still able to dial 911 even if they're deactivated. So perhaps leaving them strategically around the house might be a temporary solution?

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

If you have old cell phones that you haven't recycled, I believe they're still able to dial 911 even if they're deactivated. So perhaps leaving them strategically around the house might be a temporary solution?

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Perhaps - but if she falls and can't get to one...perhaps the temporary solution is to just make sure she always has a pocket to put her phone in...

Does your Mom have any difficulty using the phone? Hearing, mobility, vision? If you need to make the phone itself better this is a good company:

http://shop.clarityproducts.com/

No matter which route you decide to go, as a former public safety dispatcher, I suggest calling your local 911 agency and having them add a "premise history" to your sister's address. Tell them what medical problems your mom has, where a hidden key is if you have one, info on if there are pets in the house especially if they're aggressive, and contact info for you and your sister. Even if you go with one of those systems that is monitored by an alarm company, call the 911 agency - I can't tell you how many times the alarm company DOESN'T have the information available for the responding units even though they're supposed to.

This is good information, I will pass it along to my sister. I didn't know that you can provide the local emergency service a "premise history". We are pondering several options right now. Mom does have a significant hearing problem, but as long as she remembers to put in her hearing aids then that isn't much of a problem. As long as she remembers :( She doesn't have any mobility problems yet, and hopefully for her sake that will be a long-time coming.

Oakleaf and Trek420 thanks for the tips - and thankfully she does have a living will (as do I). I appreciate it everyone!

Here are a couple good options for medical alert systems
1. No monthly fee medical alert system http://www.tntalert.com
2. GPS Cellular based medical alert system http://www.SkyAngelGPS.com

Life Lines and such have helped out many of my patients as well. Cell phones are good, but sometimes it is not always available or if something happens there are more steps involved with using a phone vs pusing a "Life Line " button.

As for the stairs...would there be anyway to put in a stair glide?? There are many different type/models and from the ones I have seen they do not take up very much room/space. I have had several patients use them and have seen the benefits to having them installed.

The problem with a cell phone is that many times, when a fall happens, the individual can't speak, or articulate their problem. This may lead to emergency services identifying it as a fake call, or an accidental call. Medical Alert Systems allow you to press a button and get help. Another problem with carrying a cell phone is, during a fall a cell phone can easily fall out of a pocket, or break in the fall. The medical alert button is strung around the neck, so its harder to fall out of reach and its durable, making it harder to break in a fall.