single people - how long would it take someone to notice you missing?

[braumeister]

I just realized that my ICE (In Case of Emergency) number which I somehow put on that screen is gone!

That number and also my medical information is always available from the lock screen on an iPhone (by default). Are you sure it's missing?

 

[aja8888]

If I didn't show up for my morning coffee at Burger King for a day or two (without prior notice), my group of friends would know something is not right and call or text, or just go to my house. We have a close knit group of a dozen or so retirees and many of us have been friends for years (decades, actually). Some guys are single (widowed, divorced) and some are still with a spouse or girlfriend.

Maybe in 10 more years, our group will be mostly disbanded and then we would have situations where being alone and not found if something goes amiss will be more likely. Right now, our age group ranges from 70 to 85.

 

[mystang52]

I'm not single. But I'd recommend anyone over age 60 or so, who lives alone, should have one of those Life Alert-type alarms. 24 hours (i.e., for those who have friends/family that would check in) can be a long time. As an aside, I wear a Road ID tag whenever I run or cycle, and I also have one for my swimming.

 

[badatmath]

I am thinking maybe no more pets after this one goes. I hate the thought of them suffering if I wasn't found quickly.

 

[bmcgonig]

That's a good practice. Unfortunately, I'm prone to forget my phone when I go out. Last year I needed to replace my original Apple Watch and I got the cellular version this time. I always have it on my wrist, and it's really amazing since I can make a phone call with it even when my iPhone is miles away. Full Dick Tracy mode. Rarely needed, but it gives me a good feeling of confidence.

I feel a lot safer now that I have an Apple Watch. We don’t even have to dial a number, just press one button and swipe and it calls 911.

Next door neighbor’s friend was shot and killed in his apartment by a stray bullet. He dropped to the floor and immediately the watch called 911 and all his emergency contacts. That’s how his father, one of the emergency contacts, found out what had happened.

 

[Koolau]

IIRC the "life alert" type companies have many options to deal with different circumstances. But to some extent, most devices depend on at least some level of "cooperation" with the potential victim. We had a neighbor who we used to keep track of. She was SUPPOSED to wear her Jitterbug phone around her neck but she would forget to put it on when ever she charged it - or she'd let it die. Once she was a few steps away from it, she wouldn't hear it due to severe hearing loss - and her forgetfulness to put in hearing aids - or buy batteries. SO, I can't count the times we would trundle down to her apartment and bang on the doors and then windows until she would finally hear us.

Some of the systems use a communication WITH the potential victim via the base unit or the worn detection device. Our friend would most likely not have heard such a communication so a false alarm would have been generated.

The whole issue is fraught with multiple potential complications so YMMV.

 

[travelover]

My pension and bills are all automatically deposited / withdrawn, so it would probably be once someone smelled me.

 

[Amethyst]

I wore hearing aids at work, due to the usual age-related high-frequency loss which made it harder to hear in group settings. So I have some insight into why Old people don't wear their aids.

I gave them up when I retired, because of those tiny batteries that die if you look at them, or if you take out the aids and forget to open the teeny battery compartment so the battery won't die.

I used to wonder how a much older, fumble-fingered, nearly blind version of me could possibly deal with them.

I Once she was a few steps away from it, she wouldn't hear it due to severe hearing loss - and her forgetfulness to put in hearing aids - or buy batteries.

 

[JoeWras]

That number and also my medical information is always available from the lock screen on an iPhone (by default). Are you sure it's missing?

Here's what was missing: my ICE info I put up as a message on the lock screen. Basically, Android has the ability to put up any message you want on the lock screen. If you put ICE there, it makes it super easy to find.

Someone in the Android ecosystem did some update to the lock screen that hit the Moto phones (and others too) and for some of us, it erased this message. If you used it as ICE, it was gone.

However, the good news is the "built in" emergency stuff was still there. You have to do a bit of a dance to find it (a few swipes, pull up emergency dial, tap a few times), but it was still there. So, perhaps I should just calm down.

In any case, it is a reminder to set your ICE.

 

[braumeister]

perhaps I should just calm down.

Usually a good idea.

FWIW, on the iPhone, if a stranger picks it up and Face ID doesn't recognize them, the phone shows the numeric keypad for your passcode and the word "Emergency".

Tap on Emergency and you get a telephone keypad and "Medical ID".

Tap on Medical ID and your name, basic medical details, and contact person/phone number appear.

I'd be surprised if the Android system didn't operate similarly.

 

[CaptTom]

I'd be surprised if the Android system didn't operate similarly.

Very similar, at least on mine. Tap on "Emergency" at the bottom of the lock screen. The next screen allows you to make a call (not sure if that's restricted to 911 or something) and there's a button for "Emergency Information."

I have my first name, spouse's phone number, blood type and organ donor "yes" indicator. You can add anything else. Maybe allergies, medications, whatever.

This got me thinking, I wonder what else I should add. All I can come up with right now is "no known allergies." What else would a first responder need to know?

 

[braumeister]

, I wonder what else I should add. All I can come up with right now is "no known allergies." What else would a first responder need to know?

That's what I have. They need to know that at least. I don't see any reason to get too detailed because it will be an emergency situation and time is of the essence.

 

[JoeWras]

Yeah, the emergency info works. Lots of taps required on my phone, but any first responder should know the drill.

I've calmed down now.

 

[braumeister]

Yeah, the emergency info works. Lots of taps required on my phone, but any first responder should know the drill.

True, I think.

But for a much lower tech solution, there is something called Road ID that just about every runner I know wears, either on a shoe or their wrist. You decide what to engrave on it and it's very obvious to the first responder and requires no tapping at all. I've been using one for many years, as has DW, and I highly recommend it.

 

[SecondCor521]

Very similar, at least on mine. Tap on "Emergency" at the bottom of the lock screen. The next screen allows you to make a call (not sure if that's restricted to 911 or something) and there's a button for "Emergency Information."

I have my first name, spouse's phone number, blood type and organ donor "yes" indicator. You can add anything else. Maybe allergies, medications, whatever.

This got me thinking, I wonder what else I should add. All I can come up with right now is "no known allergies." What else would a first responder need to know?

First thing would be whether you want a DNR or not.

Second thing might be the location of your medical POA (who is probably your spouse anyway) and your living will / health care directive documents.

 

[splitwdw]

We've had two older gentlemen in our neighborhood that fell off their step ladders and weren't able to use their phones or a medical alert device if they had one. My next door neighbor had a medical alert device. When he tripped over his kitchen rug and hit his head. He dragged himself to the phone to call me because he didn't want to bother the alert people...and I was closer. So don't think a cell or an alert system will help if you have a fall or are medically incapacitated. We do have 1 neighbor that calls her sister every night before she goes to bed for a check-in but you're still talking that you could lay there for 24 hours.
My aunt moved to FL in 2019 as a year rounder and the first thing she did was make friends with other year rounders and traded phone numbers for their kids in case of emergency.

 

[CaptTom]

So don't think a cell or an alert system will help if you have a fall or are medically incapacitated.

My father has one that will automatically call if he falls down.

We know it works. At first he'd sometimes forget he had it around his neck and bend down too quickly to pick something up or whatever, and it would call!

 

[lucky penny]

Usually a good idea.
FWIW, on the iPhone, if a stranger picks it up and Face ID doesn't recognize them, the phone shows the numeric keypad for your passcode and the word "Emergency".

Tap on Emergency and you get a telephone keypad and "Medical ID".

Tap on Medical ID and your name, basic medical details, and contact person/phone number appear.

Thank you for this, braumeister! I looked for this on my iPhone, didn't see it & realized I'd never set up the Medical ID. I just did it.

I've been in denial about aging (& living solo) since I generally feel great & take pride in feeling self-sufficient. This thread is a wake-up call.

Lots to think about.

PS - I like your "low tech" suggestion too.

 

[rk911]

about 15-yrs ago my mother-in-law was living alone in a town about an hour away from us. she had a mild mental illness which manifested itself in not trusting telephones. lots of backstory here that's not relevent to the thread.

my wife would call but the calls were not answered. no answering machine which, even if there had been one, would not have been used. so we asked the nextdoor neighbor to periodically make contact with her on the days my wife was not there helping with errands. the neighbor would knock on the front window, MIL would part the curtains, smile and wave. one day she did not respond to the knock...nor on the next day or the day after that. on the morning of the 4th day we got the call.

we immediately drove down and upon arriving and, fearing what i would find, instructed my wife to stay in the car. i found her...alive...sprawled on the floor. she either fell or passed out. medics were called. she spent 2-3 weeks in the hospital, another 4-5 weeks in rehab and then the next 10-yrs in assisted living. she died a few months before she would've turned 99.

the takeaway? the 'i've-fallen-and-i-can't-get-up' devices are an absolute must for persons living alone. MIL was stubborn and refused to move closer to us. but for the neighbor her ending would've come a lot sooner.

 

[Sunset]

A Michigan woman was dead for 5 years in her house !!

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/michigan-mummified-body-found/index.html

 

[Sunset]

I never knew about the emergency info on the phone , never really noticed the word "emergency" under the dialpad.

 

[lucky penny]

A Michigan woman was dead for 5 years in her house !!

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/michigan-mummified-body-found/index.html

OK, now this thread is really freaking me out!

 

[Dtail]

A Michigan woman was dead for 5 years in her house !!

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/michigan-mummified-body-found/index.html

And her lawn continued to be cut.....

 

[JoeWras]

I never knew about the emergency info on the phone , never really noticed the word "emergency" under the dialpad.

It's OK! Now you do. So set the info on your phone now!

I think we've all gained a few tips from this thread, despite the morbid topic.

 

[JoeWras]

And her lawn continued to be cut.....

Also key to the story was she always had her mail held at the post office, so no neighborhood carrier would have noticed something amiss. Still, down at the office you would think someone would have wondered what was up as they had to get bigger and bigger totes for her held mail.