Medical Alert Systems: Lifesaving Apparatus?

It is one of our worst fears realized:  an elderly parent has had an accident and a neighbor had to alert medical authorities.  You rush to the hospital, with the shrill sound of the telephone still ringing in your head.  Your heart is now a deafening pounding in your ears and your mind is racing.  How could this have happened?  You recall the conversation, rehashed over a number of months about moving your mother to a nursing home.  No, she insisted she would not go and while you realized that her being mobile gave you a certain degree of comfort, it was still tinged with worry.

There seems to be a trend towards seniors retaining any iota of independence that they possibly can and to many this means the ability to stay in their own homes.  Some families choose to move an ailing parent into their own homes, but this can cause an entirely new set of problems and stressors.  Medical alarms and medical alert bracelets have become very popular over the course of the last decade and with good reason.  Medical alert systems offer an additional layer of satisfaction for caregivers by ensuring that help is only button push away.

The premise behind medical alert alarms is incredibly elementary considering the extraordinary benefits.  Your mother (or father) will wear a device (either around their neck or wrist) that is fitted with a medical alert button.  If the unthinkable happens and your father is home alone and trips, taking a tumble onto a hard wood floor, he need only press the button on his alert medical device, which subsequently sends a signal to the base device.  The base will instantly place a call to the appropriate response center.  When 911 is called without the assistance of medical alert, those attending the scene don’t make an effort to contact loved ones or emergency contacts until the patient has been admitted to a hospital.  Luckily, the Response Center will do exactly that.  So, when you hear the buzz of your phone, that phone call comes with peace of mind and the knowledge that your parent is being attended to at home by a paramedic or being safely transported to the nearest hospital.

Questions arise about a parent with arthritis, or who is stricken with a condition, which renders their hands inoperable, what then?  If this is a concern for your particular situation, look for a device that has a raised button so if needed, it can be bumped against the floor, a wall or even a book.  Better yet, if you have a parent with vision impairment, devices are available with brightly colored buttons to avoid confusion.  With a multitude of medical alert wristbands available, it might be wise to determine which also has a moderate level of sensitivity, which can reduce the instance of accidentally alerting the response center.

Are you are at all concerned about a parent living alone at home?  An alert medical device is a simple, sensible solution, which will give you the security of knowing that your parent is in good hands.