What Is a Medical Alert System?
Does the supplier charge for equipment? What happens if your button breaks, do they replace it free of charge? Knowing what hidden costs there is can help you find the best suppliers that can come in within your monthly budget.
One of the most important things to consider when looking for an emergency alert system for the home is the contract.
Some companies will need you sign with them for a year or more to get free equipment, while others will run a month to month rolling contract, giving you control to cancel the contract when you want.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Medical Alert systems, also known as Personal Emergency Response Systems, have been around since the early 1980s. The medical alert industry estimates that about 1.8 million Americans use these services. A subscriber to a medical alert service usually has a small base station plugged into the telephone line in their home which can automatically dial to a monitoring center. An alarm call can be initiated on the base station by pressing its help button or by pressing the button on a pendant or wrist worn activator. The pendant or wrist band activator is actually a small radio transmitter that transmits a signal to the base station to tell it to dial.
When you subscribe to a service, you register with them the details of where you live, who they should contact if you need help, and details of any health conditions or disabilities that might affect your safety. The center will also determine who the public emergency services are in your community so that they can be summoned in an emergency.
When a call is initiated, the base station dials to the center and the call is answered by an emergency response operator. The center will have several operators to ensure that calls are answered promptly. The operator speaks with you via a headset and can also see on a computer screen the details of who you are, where you live, and who to call in an emergency. The conversation will be recorded on a voice recorder. Your base station has a loudspeaker and microphone so that you can have a conversation with the operator even if you are in a different room to the base station.
During a help call, the operator will ask you some questions to determine what type of help you require. The operator is trained to make decisions quickly and make sure that your safety and wellbeing are top priority. The operator can call your nominated responder, for instance a friend or neighbor and can call the emergency services if necessary, and will stay connected with you to provide re-assurance and support until help arrives.
After the call, the base station will automatically hang up the call. If there was an emergency, the operator can pass a message on your behalf to a family member or friend to inform them what happened and what the outcome is. The reason for the call and the actions taken are stored on the service's database so that the operators are aware of a subscriber's previous calls when a new call is made.
Generally you can have as many pendant activators as you need so for instance two family members can share the service if they each carry a pendant activator. You could also place an activator in a handy place in a bathroom or garage to give extra insurance.
