This might be more suited for IMHO, but here I go:
I’m looking for a device that will alert someone in case I have a problem due to my disability and I’m not physically able to reach the phone. I want something that I can wear and activate in case I fall out of my wheelchair or I’m stuck somewhere in my house. Does anyone have any experience with such services? Which is the best? Do any of them use GPS and work outside of your home?
life alert
How about using Life alert?
While I’m sure there are various specialty products that do this, would a simple cellphone do the trick? It certainly would work outside your own house, and some offer GPS-like tracking abilities (I don’t think it’s actually GPS, but rather just triangulation off of cell towers).
I agree with Gorsnak: it seems that just carrying a cellphone with you meets your requirements. Clip it to your belt, carry it in a bag over your shoulder?
I have a cellphone which is my plan A for emergencies, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The battery could die and I could forget to charge it, I could accidently leave it somewhere when I need it, etc. I may be paranoid, but I want a plan B.
Well, any alternative system will have all those same problems - though some redundancy does make it less likely that both systems fail at the same time. To be honest, a second cellphone would likely make the most sense. Any system specifically for this is merely a transmitter/receiver pair. It will most likely be limited to within your own home. Some might be hooked up to a speakerphone, enabling you to dial (presumably a fixed number, 911 or a paid monitoring service or relative who always picks up) and try to shout at the phone. The primary advantage such devices would have would be ease of use, i.e, one big button to push, which can be a very important feature for some types of disabilities. A cellphone might not be very helpful for an epileptic feeling a seizure coming on, for example. Assuming the sorts of difficulties you might expect to encounter wouldn’t prevent cellphone operation, I’m not sure there’s anything that would beat one. You could carry an old defunct one. I believe they’re all capable of calling 911, even without a current contract. Store it in a pocket in the chair somewhere, have a fixed routine for charging it, leave it off ordinarily.
Consider a monitored home security system.
Ours came with a key fob panic button, and is significantly cheaper than Life Alert. (Free install and $30 per month for the security system vs $200 setup and $50 per month.)
It WAS a tossup, but let’s try IMHO.
samclem
Do you live in a house or an apartment? If you live in an apartment and get a medical alarm system, make sure that the company can narrow it down to your apartment. There’s nothing more frustrating to everyone involved than only knowing it’s coming from “Somewhere in zone 4.” Especially when zone 4 includes the 5th & 6th floors. Other than that, all the other suggestions seem wise. Although, a panic alarm will NOT bring EMS or Fire, only the police, so keep that in mind as well. Also, make sure that you have a keybox or some other way for emergency responders to get in without breaking anything.
St. Urho
Paramedic
Your Plan B could just be another mobile phone. Get a no-frills, long battery life phone with the cheapest monthly service contract. Heck, get 2 more and keep one in the car. These things are cheap these days.
-Tcat