Medical Alert suggestions

[mystang52]

My daughter's mother-in-law is 74, widowed, lives alone. A few days ago she had a dizziness episode, discharged from hospital after a couple of days. I don't recall the diagnosis, but regardless she needs one of those medical alerts.
DD and son-in-law apparently ruled out Life Alert, and have it narrowed down to Philips Lifeline or Medical Guardian.
Can anyone offer insight into either of these? Son in law is one of 3 sons. All 3 live anywhere 15 minutes to an hour away, but of course emergencies can happen while they are working, hence this inquiry.

Thanks in advance.

 

[meierlde]

My daughter's mother-in-law is 74, widowed, lives alone. A few days ago she had a dizziness episode, discharged from hospital after a couple of days. I don't recall the diagnosis, but regardless she needs one of those medical alerts.
DD and son-in-law apparently ruled out Life Alert, and have it narrowed down to Philips Lifeline or Medical Guardian.
Can anyone offer insight into either of these? Son in law is one of 3 sons. All 3 live anywhere 15 minutes to an hour away, but of course emergencies can happen while they are working, hence this inquiry.

Thanks in advance.

One other possiblity is a wristwatch cell phone such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Qkking-Water...5870127&sr=8-7&keywords=wristwatch+cell+phone
note the line that if you insert a sim card it becomes a stand alone cellphone. Then if need be you can just call 911 or other numbers.

 

[ScottS]

I can't help you with the two latter ones you mentioned. We decided on Life Alert for my mom after she had some falls. I looked at a number of others at that time but we decided on L.A. at that time for two reasons : (1) She had friends that had good results with their service, so she felt comfortable with that and (2) Life Alert also offered fire detectors that were able to be part of the system. With reduced mobility and no quick exit from her bedroom we felt this was a useful feature to have , as it does not require manual activation.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[RobbieB]

I had 2 of these for Pops, one in Detroit and one here in CA. Don't know the companies, too long ago. They both worked good and Pops used them more than once.

First hand experience with old folks, the "watch cell" is not gonna work. You fall down, you are in pain, you can't think right...you want 1 button to push. On your wrist, around your neck, it don't matter, but it's got to be on you and only 1 button.

They do work and you should get one.

 

[tulak]

Apple announced a new emergency feature for their watch. If you hold down the side button, it'll call 911 and send a message to your emergency contacts with your location. It places the call through an iPhone or over wifi. Unfortunately you'd have to have an iPhone to make it work.

A dedicated, single button solution is probably better, since with the watch you have to make sure it's charged, etc. I think you'd want something that has a long battery life. But I thought it was an interesting feature. An added bonus is that it knows your location, so if you're in another country it knows what emergency number to call.

Here's a write-up describing the feature: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/06/13/apple-watch-sos-watchos3/

 

[eytonxav]

Unfortunately, many medical emergencies for the elderly render the user unable to press anything when they have collapsed from a heart attack or stroke. I really wonder how useful some of these things are, other than possibly providing peace of mind.

 

[Sarah S]

There are options that detect a fall and initiate a call if the person does not quickly indicate they are ok. If she does have a cell there are buttons you can link to either android or apple phones that have the capability of fall detection as well as person initiated summons. The fall detection is available with the other type of system too.

 

[razztazz]

Unfortunately, many medical emergencies for the elderly render the user unable to press anything when they have collapsed from a heart attack or stroke. I really wonder how useful some of these things are, other than possibly providing peace of mind.

I call this the "So what?" factor.

So, the system can't attend to every possible emergency situation. The more you can cover, the better. Even if you manage to call help and teh system works as expected, by the time they get there you could be dead anyway.

Like the whole perspective on investing here. You do what you can do and don't worry about what you can't do.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My Dad has had the Great Call "transponder" for a few years. It was $15 a month when he first got it...I think it's $20 a month now. It's a cellular type device, no base unit required. I am able to go online and see where he is at any given time. I think the latest model has fall detection, but I can't swear to that. The model he has works basically as a cell phone. You press the button and you talk to the agent through a very loud speaker. They can answer questions, summons help, contact people for you or connect you to a nurse for advice.

It does offer some peace of mind for my Dad who will soon be 89 but is still very independent.

We have "tested" it a couple of times (to see how the medical nurse advice portion works and then to see how good they were at calling me after he activated it). Also, I can call Great Call and have them contact him through the device. I have never tried this, but I assume it works just fine.

 

[Brat]

I hate to disillusion you but if a senior has a heart attack at home the changes that it is survivable are low even with prompt medical attention.

 

[MBAustin]

We have one from Bay Alarm Medical for DH (Medical Alert Systems from $25 ? Bay Alarm Medical) for about 2 years. Haven't had to use it but he tests it out occasionally (as they recommend). I think he selected it because of the small wristband alert mechanism, but I don't remember now.

 

[TrvlBug]

My daughter's mother-in-law is 74, widowed, lives alone. A few days ago she had a dizziness episode, discharged from hospital after a couple of days. I don't recall the diagnosis, but regardless she needs one of those medical alerts.
DD and son-in-law apparently ruled out Life Alert, and have it narrowed down to Philips Lifeline or Medical Guardian.
Can anyone offer insight into either of these? Son in law is one of 3 sons. All 3 live anywhere 15 minutes to an hour away, but of course emergencies can happen while they are working, hence this inquiry.

Thanks in advance.

We recently got one of these for MIL. We initially engaged Phillips Lifeline, however, they 'forgot' to tell us about an incompatibility issue with VOIP landline phones. MIL has AT&T U-verse. When I called them on it they said nobody has VOIP phones and that's why they never mention the issue...can't remember the details. Our second choice was the GreatCall Splash which she now has. Medical Guardian was also on our list, but we rejected them because the charge only lasts for 36 hours. The others lasted anywhere from 3 to 8 days.