Fall alarm not going off

[splothersdog]

My MIL has had a number of falls over the past two years. About 3 months ago we finally persuaded her to have a fall alarm. She opted for a pendant alarm as she wanted to be able to wear it under her clothes.
However in the four weeks she has three falls - two quite heavy and the alarm as not gone off. Luckily other people were about and able to help.
Does anyone has experience of this and would a wrist alarm be better?

Is it definitely the type triggered by the movement of the fall and not dependent on them pushing a button?

And if it is the movement type was it a gradual fall ie they more sort of slid onto the floor, rather than a sudden movement?

I believe it is the fall one - she set it up herself, so we need to explore that. She has managed to set it off accidentally by banging it against something.
One one occasion she fell backwards and on another she went forwards but the pendant when behind her - if that makes sense. No idea what happened on the other occasion as she is being a bit evasive!
I think that the wrist one is more likely not to move.

It’s most likely not a falls ‘sensor’ but a falls ‘alarm’, so she has to press it to activate it. If it is a sensor it could be the falls are too gradual / slow for it to pick up.

The council told us we had the choice but in the council woman’s experience the falls one isn’t that reliable and you can’t rely on it. She recommended the ordinary push button pendant one. We pay around £25 a month for it. Comes with wrist and pendent fitting.

The alarm you’re describing will only go off when the wearer presses it - like a doorbell.
My MIL used to hate pressing hers when she fell as she didn’t want to be any trouble, so she’d lie on the floor for hours until her next carer visit.

This is the one she says she has. It certainly looks like this one

As others said that looks like life line that you press- all the fall sensor ones that I have ever seen are wrist

They are just not that great. They only really go off with a sudden sharp knock. Older people tend usually to catch themselves as they fall and more gradually slide to the ground breaking the fall against wall or furniture. The falls sensors sadly give a lot of false reassurance.
does your mum understand that she needs to press the button for help? Can you drill that into her. Also testing it together weekly to help overcome that hesitancy about pressing the button. Alarms companies usually very accommodating of test calls as long as you tell them it’s a test!!

the website gives options for both pendants and wrist fall alarms

She does know to press it but whether she would is another matter. My worry is if she hit her head which is what happened this week but luckily someone was in the house.
Are the wrists ones any better than the pendants?
I’m

You need to check with the provider what kind of alarm she has. If it is a falls sensor, ask them to check it.

iPhone also has a falls sensor which apparently works well.

With apple watch

TBH if she is having regular falls it might be time to consider residential care. My relative also had a pendant alarm that didn't go off resulting in a 'long lie' overnight until the carer visit the next morning. The result of this was a long stay in hospital leading to loss of mobility as relative got no physio and was left lying in bed for weeks despite our attempts at interventions/rehab. Relative had to be discharged to nursing home for the final part of their life. All very sad. So the pendant proved to be a great disappointment.

I had the one you show and found it useless.
Then had one provided by the council. Also not very helpful as didn’t work in my garden which is where all my falls have happened.
Just bought an apple watch with built in fall detector and this is finally the peace of mind I needed.

I had this last week with my mum. I spoke to the alarm people and they said that you still need to press it. The 'fall' alarm element only goes off if the person who's fallen has remained still for 20 seconds (i.e. if they're unconscious). I guess it makes sense, but I had to underline to my mum that she still needs to press it if she falls (only if conscious obvs).

My mother has a pendant one from Taking Care which includes a falls detector. If the pendant detects a fall then it will alert the call centre automatically with no need for the button to be pressed, although they do say it can;t be guaranteed to work every time. .

It's gone off twice - the first time one of her carers apparently dropped it while getting her dressed, and the second time is a mystery - she was apparently completely unaware it had been activated until the local contact who had been notified by the call centre came round to check that she was alright.

We haven't as yet had any experience of an actual fall since she's had it ;

She’s most likely to have the sort of fall where she can’t get up but is still conscious, isn’t she. So a pendant outside her clothes where she can get at it, or a watch style one - and the willingness to call it! - would manage that risk.
for the less likely but obv much more serious unconscious fall, how about a system of regular checkins by phone? Or if you are getting very technological and she is ok with the intrusion you can get fancy motion sensor alarm systems that alert if no one is moving about the house at regular times.
most automatic fall alarms also have a manual button. So the risk really is the wearer relying on it automatically calling the alert, when they could press it themselves. Just reinforce and practice doing that!!

Been thinking about the Apple Watch but wondering what happens when she has to take it off to charge it? At least one fall has happened in the night and I can see her not wearing it then

The Apple Watch will only detect a hard fall too, in my experience.

(It did detect DH and me engaging in some marital rough and tumble though).

Would she allow you to put in some blink cameras?

If she’s not wanting checked up on at face height kind of thing you could have them at floor level to look for her feet walking or her lying there having fallen. so you know.

Shed need broadband to work the system (not that shed work it as you’d have it on your phone but for the system to operate in her house I mean). ).

I’m just wondering whether wearing it under her clothes is restricting it and it needs free movement to trigger it?

My experience of wrist alarms isn’t great. DM had
one, it was supposed to sense the impact of a fall and alert the call centre help line (via a control box in her living room). Someone in the call centre would speak via the box, asking DM if she had fallen, was she okay etc. if there was no reply they would call me and if I did t reply then call the emergency services. DM could also press the button on the bracelet for help at any time.

It sounded great, in theory. But it often didn’t sound the alert when DM fell, and if she was confused or had hit her head then she didn’t remember to press the button for help, so would still be lying on the floor for ages, until she was found or “with it” enough to phone me. The fall alert relies on sensing the impact of the fall, so unless the person goes with a right wallop, it won’t go off. DM often sort of
slithered off the edge of the bed/chair, or managed to partially break her fall part way down, so the alarm was pretty useless. It gave a false sense of security for a time, until we realised its limitations. DM had to move into a nursing home.

Thanks everyone. I know nothing is foolproof and ultimately we will have to look at other options.
for now we have manage to get to agree to wear an Apple Watch (yet to be bought!) in addition to her fall alarm. She is also going to the Gp and has agreed to have an assessment for appropriate mobility aids around the house.
she has also agreed to Age Concern coming out and doing an assessment.
it feels like we are at the beginning of a long and potentially difficult journey

Worth asking if there is a local falls service in her area.