# Personal alert products (Life Alert and the like)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575 "2020-06-12T23:51:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/21 "2020-06-14T13:08:11Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I think some of the systems have waterproof lanyards. There may be some that have mountable buttons that could be installed in the bath area. But they’d have to be pretty waterproof since they’d need to be mounted low enough to use them if the person fell. > > Something which could work in those situations is an Alexa-type device. But make sure you get the [Echo Silver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk) model, which is customized for the needs of seniors. 🙂 The one we got for my father had those features. The wearable panic buttons were waterproof - there was one that was worn on a lanyard, and one worn on the wrist, like a watch. And the panic buttons were waterproof. And big, and red, and very visible. We mounted one low in the shower/tub, where it could be reached in case of a wall. I can’t remember the name of the company. I’ll ask my brother, he might. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/22 "2020-06-14T14:06:27Z")
Both my parents and my father-in-law (who has passed away, but his house is still inhabited) live in areas which have horrible cell phone reception. They will probably always have a landline, as it also works when the power is out. One of the benefits of the current situation is that they now know how to receive Zoom calls. Before this they had little interest. Now my father even bought new speakers and a webcam (which isn’t yet working, and they won’t let anybody in the house to look at it, which I can understand). As long as there are two of them, I am not so worried about falls, because the other one can call for help. If there’s only one of them, that person will have to move. They have apartments here which have a cable running around the entire apartment at approximately chair rail height. The person just has to tug on the cable, and the front desk will be alerted. I assume there’s something in the bathroom as well. Both my grandfather and my great uncle died in the bathroom. Some years before he died, my grandfather had ended up in the hospital when he fainted in the bathroom and hit his head on the sink. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/23 "2020-06-14T16:34:55Z")
Waterproof or not (Mom’s was), they still take them off to bathe. I swear they need to be like ankle bracelets ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/24 "2020-06-14T17:13:35Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I think some of the systems have waterproof lanyards. There may be some that have mountable buttons that could be installed in the bath area. But they’d have to be pretty waterproof since they’d need to be mounted low enough to use them if the person fell. In hospitals and medical clinic bathrooms, I’ve seen the system where the alarm is mounted about four feet above ground level with a cord that drops down, almost to ground level. So if you’ve fallen and can’t reach the alarm, you should be able to yank on the cord. So for a shower, it might be possible to mount the alarm above the waterline and have a cord or chain dropping down from there. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/25 "2020-06-14T19:47:47Z")
I got Life Alert for **kaylasmom** some four or five years ago. Never hit the button except to perform the recommended monthly test (about every nine months). **Kaylasmom** refused to wear the lanyard. They were pretty good about letting me cancel the service after she died. They only asked me a couple of times if there was someone else who could benefit from it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/26 "2020-06-14T20:28:55Z")
My father lived alone for the last six years of his life, and he (mostly) always carried his cell phone in his shirt pocket – he always wore plaid shirts with big pockets. He used to do his errands on his Segway rather than the car because he couldn’t walk very comfortably but he could ride the Segway right into the stores and conduct his business without stepping off of it. But in the last year or so he started falling off of it from time to time, and he would use his cell phone to summon the EMTs. So far as I know he only had one incident where he ended up on the living room floor, could not get up and I guess didn’t have his phone on him, so he dragged himself to the neighbor across the hall who helped him stand up. He was also on the cheap side and he didn’t see the need for a Life Alert sort of thing as long as he had his phone on him. I didn’t think to ask him what about taking a shower. Fortunately, that scenario never happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/27 "2020-06-14T21:10:44Z")
There are some things I have wanted to say for real for a long time. Like, “Let’s make this a true Daily Double, Alex.” Another one is, “Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575/28 "2020-06-14T21:25:27Z")
Dumb joke I heard about that “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” commercial. Jesus Christ returns to earth and decides to visit a discotheque. He tries the dance floor but just can’t manage it. So he cries out, “Help! I’ve risen but I can’t get down!” For the record, that joke was told to me by a Jewish friend, in case you need someone to blame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-alert-products-life-alert-and-the-like/855575.md?page=1)