Medical/Emergency Alert system for old folks

[The Devil's Grandmother]

My mother in law, for reasons I won't go into, should probably have one of those autodial 911 bracelets. I've been looking at reviews for various products, and it seems like they're all crooks. Does anybody have a Medical/Emergency Alert system they are happy with? My MIL will need a plug-and-play system that tests itself.

The service with the least bad reviews seems to be Alert One so if anyone has experience with that comany in particular, I'd be glad to hear it.

[kunilou]

My father-in-law currently has one of those dealies. Which one is irrelevant because he WON'T PUSH THE DAMN BUTTON. He doesn't want to "bother" them -- even when he passed out while alone. Instead, he calls his son, or one of his friends (who then calls the son) who, in turn, calls 911.

One night, however, he rolled over in his sleep and hit the button by accident. They called the house, he slept through the phone ringing, so they called 911. The paramedics came and when he didn't answer the door (he was still asleep) they broke in. So, from the standpoint of pushing the button and getting a response, we're satisfied with it.

[Nightsong]

If she has an alarm system, check to see if the company also provides a medical alert system - some do, although I'm not certain if they do it as a stand-alone or if it only comes as an add-on to their alarm monitoring service.

___
<< That which does not kill me had better be able to run away damn fast. >>

[whiterabbit]

My grandma has one (I don't remember what company) but so far has refused to use it, even having had an actual serious medical emergency. "I didn't think it was that bad." Suuuuure, Grandma. You were only bleeding heavily from an ulcer (or something like that) to the point where you passed out in your hallway. You'd think she might have admitted later that she should have but was mentally not entire together, but not my grandma. Nope, "it wasn't that bad."

She did test it once to show it off to me and they responded to the test right away, so I'm not worried about them getting somebody to her if need be. But she's got to push the damn button!

kunilou, I share your frustration.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I'm afraid my dear MIL is just like kunilou's and whiterabbit's relations. Having the button will only be a reassurance for her children. Still, it might be a worthwhile expense. I'll give it some more thought.

Thanks for the input, everybody.