There came that day when the phone rang and it was bad news; grandmother suffered a fall and she had been taken to the hospital. Although her injuries were nothing more serious than a few bruises, we were advised that now was a good time to pay closer attention to our grandmother's health, although we were not necessarily always available to do so. Thankfully, during our visit with grandmother at the hospital, we discovered a brochure about a type of product we felt would complement our responsibilities-a personal emergency response device which included the personal help button: one component of what we came to know as medical alert systems.
Firstly, medical alert systems tend to have two parts: a two-way voice communicator unit connecting the user to emergency medical assistance, 24 hours a day, which is activated by the second part, the personal help button. Designed primarily for use at home, medical alert systems such as these are quite versatile and robust; turning the telephone into a speakerphone, making answering the telephone as easy as pushing the personal help button. The system can also provide medication reminders and are transferable to other residential locations, such as a summer cottage. The personal help button can be worn either as a bracelet or pendant and is both wireless and waterproof, for convenient use in either the bath or shower.
The shower... that made us remember our uncle. If we had known about medical alert systems earlier, would we have been able to save him? 89 years young, still going strong, walking around the neighbourhood, bowled down at the corner lanes, watched what he ate, laughed lots with his friends, kept in touch with his family, until that one nigh when he decided to take a quick shower to cool off before retiring to bed and collapsed in the shower stall. Found a half hour later by his wife, who became suspicious when she felt that he seemed to be in the bathroom for too long...
It is the nightmare scenario we wish had not happened, and if our uncle had been using a medical alert system, he could have let somebody know he was in trouble sooner and they might have been able to get to him in time. If we had known about medical alert systems, we certainly would have registered him with one.
Yes, we had seen that "fallen and can't get up" commercial many, many years ago, and kind of shrugged it off due to our youthfulness, figuring that we would know better by the time old age caught up to us-meanwhile old age caught up to us through our older family members. Now we figure no more shrugging off anything willy-nilly!
We all wish we could invent a time machine to either go back in time to erase bad memories, or go back and relive the good memories or maybe even just having a contraption that will make what time we have left in our lives that much easier to bear. Medical alert systems provide a convenient, immediate and direct connection to emergency medical personnel with expertise and knowledge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Like a personalized 9-1-1 helpline, the dispatchers are standing by to assist you at times of the most pressing need-medical emergencies.
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