Posts Tagged ‘medical alert systems’

Home Medical Alert Systems: Understanding the Response Center

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

If you have been looking for a home medical alert system for an aging family member or yourself, you may be overwhelmed by the many choices that are available. It can be difficult to know what the best system for your needs is. Many people find that a system that uses a response center that is available to take calls in an emergency, is the best way to find the safety and peace of mind that they are looking for. But even then, the many companies with response centers can vary greatly when it comes to features. To help you select a home medical alert system with a response center, there are several things you need to consider.

For a system that uses a response center, it is important to understand how it operates. For example, you will want to make certain that the provider offers round-the-clock support, 7 days a week. Because medical emergencies can happen any time, the home medical alert system that you will use must be able to respond at all times.

It is also important to know a few other things about the response center. For example, does the provider have its own center, or does it outsource to other companies to keep costs down? Companies that do this do not have the ability to train their staff, which is important. You should find a provider that offers extensive training for its staff, ideally with periodic testing as well. The training and professionalism that a response center provides can be critical when responding to a life or death situation.

Learn also about the average response time: a fully trained and experienced response center should be able to respond to each call quickly. And find out the process that the center uses when calls come in. For example, how are calls with the senior handled in an emergency? Who calls the senior’s family or emergency contact person.and how quickly?

The last thing you need to check is if the response center is UL (Underwriters Laboratories) listed, as this organization sets the standards that all response centers are expected to meet. Find another provider, if the company you are considering has a response center that is not UL listed.

The purpose of a home medical alert system is to provide safety and peace of mind for an elderly person and his/her family. If the system uses a poorly trained, unprofessional, and unreliable response center, then there is no safety or peace of mind. Taking the time to research, ask questions, and find out all you can about the response center-the people who will be entrusted to help in an emergency-may be the most important decision you make when choosing the right home medical alert system for you.

While worrying about the safety of your aging mom or dad may keep you up at night, a home medical alert system can give peace of mind and help for your elderly loved one. Before deciding, research LifeStation, and see if it is the besthome medical alert system for your senior.

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Home Medical Alert Systems: Providing Security For Your Aging Parents

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

If you are like many adult children with aging parents who live alone, you may find yourself worrying about mom or dad’s safety. It takes very little for an elderly person to end up with months of hospitalizations, medical bills or rehabilitation: one fall can do it. And when you add in the likelihood of medical issues that may require a senior to need immediate attention, it is apparent why so many families turn to home medical alert systems to help protect their aging parents and family members.

It can be challenging however, to sort through the hundreds of home medical alert systems on the market. To start, it is best to learn how these systems are meant to work. Most fall into one of two categories: those with a round the clock monitoring service, and those that have no service, and only provide the equipment.

Home medical alert systems with a monitoring service typically include a written service agreement between the customer and monitoring company. Once in place, the monitoring service responds when the alert device is activated, and then contacts the agreed upon people or emergency personnel.

When choosing a home medical alert system that has a monitoring service, always factor in the cost of the monitoring, as it can easily range between $30-$40 per month. In addition, there is usually an installation or activation fee.

If your aging parents don’t really require round the clock monitoring however, there is no reason to pay for it, as many perfectly fine home medical alert systems consist only of the equipment. The benefit, of course, is that this is far more economical as the only cost is for the basic equipment: there is no monthly monitoring service fee.

In a system that does not include monitoring, when the device is activated, the call will go directly to the numbers that have been programmed: depending on the system chosen, family, friends, or possibly emergency personnel.

Home medical alert systems certainly cannot take your place, but they can provide security to the elderly person and peace of mind for the family of aging family members who worry about their safety.

While worrying about the security of your aging parents may keep you up at night, a response system can provide you peace of mind, and help for your elderly loved one. Before you make a decision, find out about the various home medical alert systems that are available, and see if LifeStation is the right one for your elderly family member.

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Help At The Touch Of A Button With The Freedom Alert Home Medical Alert System

Friday, August 27th, 2010

The Freedom Alert is one of the most popular home medical alert systems available: affordable and easy to use, it provides much-needed security and peace of mind to seniors who live alone…and their families.

The Freedom Alert differs from other equipment-only home medical alert systems, in that it allows the senior and his/her family the flexibility to choose who will be contacted if there is an emergency. While calls can go directly to 911, they don’t have to: up to 4 phone numbers can be pre-programmed in advance. Choose family, friends, neighbors, or emergency personnel if you wish, and when the senior presses the alert button, the system than calls each one in the designated order, until it reaches a “live” person. At that point, the elderly person can explain the problem and the contacted person can arrange for help.

The Freedom Alert uses a 2-way voice speakerphone pendant so that the senior can talk directly to the person on the other end if there is a problem. This system means there is no need for a monitoring station, so there are no monthly fees or lengthy contracts.

The Freedom Alert pendant can be comfortably worn in one of several ways: as a lanyard, wrist strap, or belt clip. It is also waterproof so the senior can wear it in the shower where falls often occur.

Important to think about with any home medical alert system, is the battery life, as the system is only useful if it is working. The Freedom Alert comes with an emergency back up batter for the base station, while with many others you have to buy this separately. Plus, it comes with rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, and the system makes it easy to check if the battery is fully charged.

The Freedom Alert home medical alert system can provide help for your aging parents simply, and affordably. With just the push of a button, someone is always there to assist the senior if you can’t. Most elderly would like to live in the comfort of their home, independently, for as long as they can, and the Freedom Alert can make this possible.

Worrying about the security of elderly family members may keep you up at night, but a response system can provide you peace of mind, and help for your elderly loved one. Before you decide, find out about the various home medical alert systems that are available, and see if Freedom Alert is the best choice for your family member.

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How LifeStation Home Medical Alert System Is There To Help Your Aging Parents

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Are you one of the increasing number of adult children who are looking for a medical alert system to provide safety and security for your aging parents? More and more family members of the elderly are searching for the peace of mind that home medical alert systems can provide, by being available to help a senior in need, when they can’t. Many systems provide just equipment, but others, like LifeStation, provide a skilled and caring monitoring center as well, ready to help your aging parents if they are needed.

LifeStation puts a lot of time into the training of their monitoring center staff, and somewhat uniquely, only uses employees for this service: they do not outsource. Because of this, they are able to provide a very extensive training: 160 hours of formal classroom training with testing done every 40 hours, followed by an additional 80 hours of classroom and practical training. Once this initial training is complete, then each person is given a performance review weekly for the first 3 months, followed by additional, regular performance reviews.

By designing a thorough training and review process, LifeStation has insured that each member of their monitoring center is fully prepared to handle each alert call as quickly and professionally as possible. LifeStation goes one step further, however, by having to specialists in the center handle each medical alert emergency call: one stays on the line with the senior, and the other contacts the appropriate emergency personnel as well as those on the emergency contact list.

The quality of LifeStation’s monitoring center is assured as they are UL listed, meaning they meet the high standards of the Underwriter’s Laboratory, the recognized standard for all monitoring centers. In addition to this, they also offer a 24/7 customer support line, for technical or equipment questions.

It’s easy to move the LifeStation system to a new location, even if just for a temporary visit, as LifeStation can work anywhere in the United States. So no matter where your elderly loved one is, he/she can have security and safety. And if there are ever any kinds of problems with the system, there is a system repair/replacement service.

When faced with the challenge of insuring that mom or dad can always have help when needed, many adult children turn to home medical alert systems with a monitoring service, so that someone is always available, day or night, no matter what. LifeStation provides this for the seniors they serve, with a dedication to excellence, professionalism, and customer care.

While worrying about the safety of your aging parents may keep you up at night, a response system can provide you peace of mind, and help for Mom or Dad. Before you decide, learn more about the various home medical alert systems that are available, and see if LifeStation is the best choice for your elderly family member.

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Medical Alert Systems : Better For Emergencies Than Cell Phones

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

A medical alert system (also known as a medipendant) is specifically designed for elderly and disabled people, who can use it in the event that they need urgent assistance. It provides timely, professional and beneficial help in a number of ways, and is more useful and more reliable than using a cell phone to call 911..

These devices can be conveniently carried around; for example, around the wrist or around the neck. They are light and extremely compact, even when compared to the most sophisticated and elegant cell phones, and this means that they are not uncomfortable, and are no extra hassle, to keep at hand all day and night.

Medical alert systems offer superior battery life too. Once fully charged up, a cell phone may be used for around 2 days, though much less than that if lots of calls are made on it. The battery life for a medical alert system? A year. Yes, they last for a whole year before needing to be re-charged.

Robustness is another factor to consider. Dropping a cell phone from even waist height can cause it to become totally unusable, whereas a medical alert system could be dropped, for example, down the stairs without any damage being sustained to it. They are also waterproof, so taking them in the shower or bath is no problem whatsoever.

The size of cell phone buttons is another problem, as they are extremely small, which means those with poor eyesight, or unstable hands, can have real difficulties pressing the right ones. Medical alert systems, on the other hand, have just one very large, easy to press button, that opens up a direct line of communication with a health care specialist.

The medical technicians that answer the calls of the users of medical alert systems are trained not only in all kinds of first aid skills, but also on how to deal with a wide range of emergencies. Unlike those who answer 911 calls, who must process callers as quickly as is reasonably possible, so that they can deal with the next person, the medical professionals who answer medical alert system calls will stay on the line as long as the caller needs them to.

Then, there is flexibility to consider too. By phoning 911 from a cell phone, an elderly or disabled person will, most of the time, have an ambulance sent out to them, whether they really need it or not, as that is standard procedure for high risk people. There are more options offered with a medical alert system, such as having a doctor sent out instead of an ambulance, a nurses appointment being made for the following day, or just a friend or relative being contacted.

For more information on medical alert systems, or to buy a medipendant, please visit http://www.TrueMedAlert.com

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Do You Need A Medical Alert System?

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

It is a fact that people these days live longer. Whilst this is clearly a good situation, it does require people to be cared for in their later years; something that those who have been used to living an independent life can have trouble adapting to.

Few people want to be under the constant care of others unless absolutely necessary. There is a solution to this problem though. A way for elderly people to live as they wish, but to still have others come to their assistance in the case of an emergency, is through the use of medical alert systems.

What a medical alert system does is allows the user of it to instantly contact and speak with a care specialist in the event of an emergency. The user just needs to a press a button on their system.

The difference between this service, and simply calling 911, is that a lot more flexibility is provided. By dialing 911, an ambulance will pretty much always need to be called out, but a medical alert system can be used for minor emergencies as well as serious ones. The user, as well as requesting an ambulance, can, for example, just call for advice, or ask that a doctor pay a visit the next day.

Many companies are offering medical alert systems, but what specifically they are offering is not the same, with some being much better for the purpose than others. Therefore, before making a decision on which one to opt for, answers to the following questions should be sought…

- Is it simple and easy to operate?

- Can the medical alert button, or pendant, be easily carried around?

- Does it have inbuilt two way communication?

- How wide is the area of coverage?

- Is the service available throughout the day and night, for 365 days a year?

- Is the response team made up of certified Emergency Medical Technicians?

- Does the service allow relatives or neighbors to be contacted through it?

- In the event of a power failure or disaster, will the service still operate?

- Are the call center operatives native English speakers?

Any reputable provider of medical alert systems should give open and full answers to these questions. Also, be wary of trying to save a few dollars a month by choosing a service that does not meet the full requirements of the user.

Another cost related point to be aware of is that different providers set-up their packages differently, so be sure to get, and read through thoroughly, a copy of the contract before making any commitments. Look for a medical alert system that does not require a long term contract, and which does not have any set-up or activation fees attached to it. A simple monthly subscription contract is ideal, one where the user is able to simply return the equipment at any time – no questions asked.

For more information on medical alert systems, or to buy a medipendant, please visit http://www.TrueMedAlert.com

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