Because I live alone and am of “a certain age” my insurance company offered me a free subscription to the Lifeline fall alert service. You wear a button on a necklace or bracelet that can summon help when you push it. Their advanced model also claims to detect falls and calls the service automatically.
So far I’ve had the buttons replaced three times and the base unit once. The consistent problem is that it gives false alarms about once a week that range from mildly inconvenient (this morning when it went off in the shower and I had to scamper dripping wet out to the base unit to tell them that no, I was just fine. This in itself was a real invitation to a fall.) to the seriously annoying (when the unit called the fire department and didn’t even let me know – usually it beeps. Our local fire department charges for medical callouts too. )
So what is the experience of other aging Dopers? Do you subscribe to Lifeline or another service that has similar issues, or is yours relatively trouble-free? Are there any hacks that will keep it from signalling? I’ve called Lifeline about the problem and they just replaced base & signalling devices.
As of now, I’ve taken the pendant off and left it sitting on my bookcase.
I’m in a similar circumstance and last year relented to a friend’s persistent concern/nagging and signed up for a similar service from Bay Medical. It doesn’t have the fall alert service (I think that might have cost extra) but in addition to the necklace I have a GPS unit I can take with me when I leave the house.I also have a lockbox hanging on my front doorknob with a house key, so if they have to send emergency services and I’m incapacitated they won’t have to break down my front door.
I haven’t had much problem with false alerts. The only times they’ve happened is when I’ve accidentally hit the button by leaning on something, or once when my cat decided to lie on my chest. The biggest problem I’ve had is that the cord has a cup-and-socket clasp which tends to pop open.
Every so often I gripe to myself about the monthly fee, but I remind myself that if I ever do need to call for help it would be worth it.
I know a guy who fell down his basement stairs and lay on the ground, unable to get up, for a day and a half before a neighbor heard him yelling for help. He required in-patient hospitalization and then extensive physical therapy and rehab for a good long time after being discharged.
When back home, he got himself an alert device. He never did fully recover from his injuries.
My ex, who has MS, had one. Once he said he fell and they couldn’t hear him and hung up. And two more times. He had music on. Finally he was able to speak loud enough for them to hear.
Once the button did not work, he’d fallen in the bathroom at 5 a.m. and when he hadn’t called me by 1, I got worried and called rescue.
At the time I signed up for the service my legs were in good shape and I didn’t think falling was much of a hazard for me, except for the possibility of tripping over my cat (I’ve reminded him on several occasions that if he trips me and I break my neck that he’s on his own for opening his food cans).Of late my knees have gotten a bit wobbly, and I may start rethinking that.
You’d think the market for these alert services would’ve crashed due to the popularity of cellphones, especially since most people seem to carry them constantly. But I still see the TV ads.*
*which is what you get if you want to watch an old rerun, along with other services/products for the aged and decrepit. My current favorite is the little motorized pedal device you put on the floor in front of the couch, place your feet on the pedals and it’ll go in a gentle back-and-forth motion while the rest of you is doing the Couch Potato.
As dumb as the device sounds, it might be useful in combatting DVT’s while the person is doing the Couch Potato. I haven’t seen the ads so I have no idea what it actually does…
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