With elderly safety on everyone’s mind nowadays, an aide is unfortunately not always an option or simply not there at all hours. So what happens should an elderly loved one fall and no phone is in reach?
If you’re horrified by the mental image of someone lying alone, helpless… here is a solution to the aforementioned scenario: Medical Alert Monitoring.
The person wears a small phone-like device around her or his neck. The device sports just one button, which the fallen individual can easily press. A 24-hour monitoring service assesses the situation and contacts family members or EMS (Hatzalah) when needed.
I was recently in the market for such a device for a relative of mine, and here is what I found out after doing some research:
There are essentially two types of medical monitoring devices: the home-based devices and the on-the-go ones. Both are monitored by trained agents, who dispatch EMS (Hatzalah) in case of an emergency, and give them critical info about the patient such as medical history and code access to get into the house.
Most home-based landline devices consists of a button, either worn as a pendant or a bracelet, and a base in the home with a speakerphone. The issue with that system is that if the patient is far from the base they can’t hear or be heard through the speaker.
So if the button is pressed inadvertently far from the base, and the monitoring agent can’t hear their voice, Hatzalah will be dispatched out of caution. In addition, although there is one home-based landline medical alert system in which one could talk directly through the pendant, almost all home-based solutions use a very outdated protocol which typically takes between one and two minutes to connect to the monitoring center from the time the button is pressed. They are also not reliable at all when used over VOIP providers. Furthermore, that system only works inside the person’s home and a short distance right outside the home (like a cordless phone).
Fortunately, Bikur Cholim led me to a Lakewood-based company called Jresponder who offers a cellular device that works inside and outside the home!
It consists of a pendant with a speaker (two-way) that communicates with the monitoring center via built-in Verizon 4G LTE or AT&T 4G LTE cellular network. It’s essentially a dedicated mini-cellphone on a pendant, with only one button to press in case of emergency. (Many older on-the-go devices are still on the 2G/3G network.)
These devices can also be located in real-time by the dispatcher if necessary. Since it uses WiFi technology to locate the user indoor and cell-tower triangulation (instead of GPS) to locate outdoors, it only needs charging once a month!
They also offer another on the go device for those who need it, that calls the monitoring center automatically when detecting a fall, and locates the wearer outdoors via GPS for pinpoint accuracy in case of an emergency, but it needs to be recharged daily.
I went ahead and ordered the Jresponder device recently and the customer service was outstanding indeed. It is extremely simple for the elderly person to begin using immediately and it can be tested as needed (press the button and the company responds, so you can make sure it’s working).
I can only recommend you getting it for your elderly relatives as well, especially those living alone. You can call Jresponder directly at 732-719-7021.
May everyone stay safe and may we hear good news very soon.