If someone appears to be repeatedly personal, lean towards patience as they might not mean offense. If you are sure, however, then do not deepen the problem by being negative; instead, simply place them on ignore by clicking the unhappy yellow face to the right of their name.
- Manlobbi
Outskirts of Shrewd'm / Shrewd'm Family Care
No. of Recommendations: 2
I have a business buddy who is in bad shape. Bone cancer, blind in one eye, and who has had a stroke and walks (barely) with the aid of a rollator; his maximum stride is about 3 inches. He gets to leave the house about once a month, when his landlord or caregiver take the time, or every couple months when I visit (he is several hours away.)
He has fallen twice, and he to wait for his caregiver to show up to help him back up which luckily has only been an hour or two. But the caregiver only comes once a day and is there for an hour or so, so it could be much longer before he gets help. He is also near-destitute and cannot afford a medical alert system, so I have told him I will buy him one and pay the monthlies as well. But I know nothing about these systems and neither does he.
Do you have experience with any of them, and if so, could you mention a brand name for me and plus and minuses?
(I am a member of Consumer Reports so I have their ratings, but it’s still confusing and the prices are seriously high depending on what options you get, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.)
No. of Recommendations: 2
We were lucky - Mom and Dad lived with us then moved into assisted living. We didn't need an alert system.
I hope you find a good system. Thank you for doing this for your friend.
B
No. of Recommendations: 1
I think some alarm systems can connect to panic buttons. He would have to have the button with him at all times. If he had a cellphone, could serve the same purpose.
No. of Recommendations: 3
So my buddy has (as I suspected) stalled, even as he complains about almost falling over the transom to his bathroom (“I have to remember to watch out for that…”) and he fell but managed to grab the towel rack and cut his hand. He shuffles when he walks, and doesn’t dare go more than two feet away from his Roll-Ator, so of course he’s going to stumble across a transom.
Anyway, when I push him for his “I’ve fallen” solution it’s “They’re all so expensive”, and he promises to look again.
Instead, and since I have done a search or two myself, I am now bombarded with ads on Facebook for all kinds of “fall detection” and “emergency calling services” and whatnot, almost all of them requiring a hardware purchase (anywhere from $100 to $500) and a monthly fee, anywhere from $29 to $89).
Except one: Amazon emergency services. You get a couple of Alexas, almost any model will do, and subscribe to their service for $6.99 a month. As he already uses Alexa to order groceries and watch movies, he is comfortable with the technology.
I will order two more pieces of hardware - there are Alexas going from $50 to $250 (really? Yes!) and these will be the cheaper ones. But with three, we can cover anywhere in his apartment: the bathroom, the living room (next to the kitchen), and the bedroom. If he falls all he has to do is say “Alexa I need help” (or similar, I forget.) The Amazon people at the other end will notify either fire, ambulance, or police, as is appropriate, or you can have the Alexa call a contact, and you are allowed to store up to 25 of them.
This seems to overcome his objection about “they’re so expensive” (even though I’m paying, he still feels guilty about it), plus he already has an Alexa, so it’s not some newfangled thing to him.
The downside is there’s no “fall protection” should he fall and pass out, because it requires a verbal cue - but given the alternatives we’ve (I’ve) looked at this seems the best compromise.
I’m giving all this detail so anyone else looking for a solution can see what we’ve decided, and for the board to offer any additional thoughts or concerns. (He has been evacuated to his landlord’s house at the moment, as he is in the power-out zone of Kentucky due to this freak winter storm. The landlord has a generator; my buddy is alone in a 4 unit apartment building that’s being renovated except for his unit, so being alone with no power or heat would be, well, distressing to put it mildly.)
No. of Recommendations: 1
We have Google Home devices. I haven't checked, but I'll bet they work the same way. It seems like a good solution.
The unconscious bit would be a problem no matter what. If he's unconscious, he can't push a panic button, either. He'd need an attitude/fall detector. I believe there are devices out there that know when you've fallen, similar to how a smartphone knows at what orientation it is. That's the only thing I can think of to deal with falling unconscious. Except maybe an aid dog, which can be very expensive.
No. of Recommendations: 1
The unconscious bit would be a problem no matter what. If he's unconscious, he can't push a panic button, either. He'd need an attitude/fall detector.
Some of the ads I’ve seen include a watch you wear (perhaps the Apple Watch would do the same thing, but this wasn’t that) and one that was on a lariat around your neck, although I read reviews that said that particular one was highly susceptible to false alarms as it swings around.
Anyway, if you’re out when you fall, then “Hey I need help” won’t work, but that’s a small price to pay… unless you’re the one that fell.
No. of Recommendations: 2
What about keep a cell phone on him? Youngest had a crash ap on his phone so that when he was mountain biking a crash he didn't pull himself up from in like 30 seconds would text me his GPS coordinates. Perhaps something like that would work?
IP
No. of Recommendations: 2
What about keep a cell phone on him? Youngest had a crash ap on his phone so that when he was mountain biking a crash he didn't pull himself up from in like 30 seconds would text me his GPS coordinates. Perhaps something like that would work?
Thanks for the suggestion, and he and I have discussed it, but he notes that he doesn’t have the phone with him when he showers, a long and laborious process given his infirmities, and often when he shuffles around the house to make a sandwich or go to the door to see if a package has arrived. It’s not recalcitrance, just simple absent-mindedness: he’s in a “hurry” (if such a word can be used for someone who moves at his speed) to get to the goal.
I have purchased two Alexas of varying description to add to the one he already has; three will cover all areas of the apartment, and I’m going up there in a week or two and will install them and subscribe to the Amazon “help me” service (I forget the name) but it’s significantly less expensive than the “button around your neck” services which are anywhere from $70 to $100 per month, compared to Amazon at $6.99.
The phone app is a good backup, and will surely work when he it out - but then on the few occasions that he is out there is someone there anyway, but having both options couldn’t be a bad thing.
Anyway, thanks all. We’ll finish this project up soon. The delay is mostly mine: I’m 200 miles away and have had holiday, birthdays, wifely travel (requiring me to be home to tend to the animals) and the flu. But I’ll be finishing it up in a week or two.
No. of Recommendations: 2
If he can remember to put on a watch (or just never take it off except to charge it), this might work:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/108896I didn't look, but Google/Android may have a similar solution.
