To consider a wireless panic button for elderly Mum home alone?

[GoingToCalifornia]

After an initial outlay there's a monthly subscription cost.

It only works within the house.

Mum is frequently out and about, driving around in her car, picking up grandchildren from school and caring for them 5 days a week. She's on her own from 9pm through the night until her partner returns from night shifts.

Would you recommend a wireless personal alarm pendant? It states that you sound your alarm that connects through to a call centre, and if the call centre can't speak to you or get hold of your nominated key holders, they'll engage emergency services.

Will the ambulance service actually come out though just because a panic alarm's been pressed and nobody can get hold of the key holder?..

I'm sure it gives peace of mind to wearer and family, but my Gran had the same device on a bracelet that alerted her sheltered housing warden, however it was never emergency services that turned up on the rare occassion they couldn't get hold of me, it was the on call night warden.

If the wireless device fails or is glitchy, I'm wondering if emergency services are really prepared to keep attending the scene on the off chance there's an medical emergency.

What do you think?

My parents both have a mobile phone with a panic button on, Doro?

It has a button you press that will dial through a list of five (I think) numbers of your own choice. Starts with number one, if not answered in so many rings it automatically tries number two and so on until answered.

Works for us, as they are both pretty mobile and independent so just a little peace of mind for us.

Mil on the other hand needed the necklace, and again that worked well for her- she lived alone, had had a stroke, and often had falls and the response from call centre was excellent.

the autodialler mentioned by Cate is an alternative. If there are plenty of suitable people who live in strong mobile signal areas.

just remember - mobiles aren't reliable and even if they ARE answered people may not be in a position to help immediately. I walk a lot and can be an hour from the car, even if I am in mobile coverage. So all I could do is call an ambulance anyway on these occasions.

The pendants are good - the problem is though that a lot of people just won't wear one. This happened to my MiL. They tend to worry about pressing them by accident and although the call centre don't mind at all if you do that, it doesn't stop them worrying. Of course, if you don't wear it, it's sod all use.

Just because she can drive and take care of children doesn't mean she doesn't need one. MIL used to watch the neighborhood kids, clean, cook, drive. But she was also a bit disabled. She needed a walker to get around and had a limp from birth. She did fall one time, and luckily we were there, because she couldn't get herself up. If we hadn't been home she would have been on the ground for hours before FIL got home.

So... Doing day to day things, is a poor litmus test to see if she needs extra help or not. If she has a hard time getting off the sofa, she might need one.

But, personally, I'd just get a cell she has in reach at all times. The point of those button bracelets was for the 90's when there were land lines in very specific areas. Now that everyone has a cell on them, I'd just go with that.

I got my mum this one. I've set it to ring my mobile, then my landline, then sister's mobile, then her landline. It has a pendant. I covered over the sensor alarm thing, it wasn't needed.

www.amazon.co.uk/Auto-Dialer-Security-Safety-Alarm-Numbers/dp/B003ZVTOGM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1417457420&sr=8-3&keywords=autodialler+alarm

You can get 'one hit' mobiles that are useable outside the home that are found on the age UK site. You buy them preprogrammed with your emergency numbers and the user wears it on a lanyard

Thank you. I've told them the story of DHs aunt (only just 70) who last winter fell in her house, lay there for 14 hours until found. Broke her hip and developed complications and died less than a week later. Doesn't seem to make a difference. We'll pop into age uk again and get some more leaflets I think. Daft that you wouldn't get one really.

It sounds like your mum is fairly fit and well so she may resist having one but by all means suggest it and see.

I tried to get my mum to have one after her stroke but no. Then she fell and broke her hip, but as she managed to get to the phone the answer was still no.

A couple of years later she fell and was unable to get to the phone so I found her in the floor after almost 24 hours and ahe still said no to the alarm! Grrr. It drove me batty but she wouldn't budge. Very stubborn was my mum bless her!

SmileandNod - you could also tell them about my parents, where dad was snoozing on the sofa downstairs, mum was upstairs and collapsed on the loo. She managed to press the button, and the first dad knew was the box talking to him! She'd have been on the floor, unconscious for some time before he went looking for her.
I've been very impressed by the fact that the call centre also check back on them after an issue, and don't hang up until someone is with them when they need help.

My dad has it as when he fell my my couldn't get him back up. The response team were fantastic.

While your mum doesn't sound as if she needs one, I think it is a good idea for people to get these things before they're ever going to need them.