The medical alert industry, in the past few years has introduced fall detection devices.
This seems like the perfect solution for sudden events: a fall down some stairs that renders a person unconscious or a sudden event like a heart attack, stroke or seizure that makes it difficult or impossible to press the panic button.
As a practical matter, do these devices really work and are they worth the increased cost? As far as we can tell, fall detection devices have their genesis in the industrial and law enforcement world.
It must be noted that there is a huge distinction between a 40 year old healthy police officer and an 88 year senior citizen.
When the police office goes down, it is often sudden.
When an elderly person goes down, it is not necessarily a sudden event.
It could be a simple activity of daily living: reaching for a dropped bar of soap in the shower or some sort of rapid movement (unrelated to any real emergency).
This is what we know from our research.
Fall detectors have to be able to distinguish between a simple postural change such as bending over or reclining on the sofa versus a fall caused by tripping over the cat or a sudden heart attack.
When that distinction cannot be reliably made, false alarms occur.
When false alarms occur, upset happens.
The elderly one gets upset, friends and family who are notified get upset and the responding authorities get upset.
Not to mention the wasted resources related to a false dispatch.
From the largest medical alert company in the country to the new comers to the medical alert arena who now offer fall detection devices, the same issues arise, reliability and cost.
These devices seem to be of questionable reliability, thereby making the increased cost hard to justify.
It has been reported that based on the number of detected falls that have been reported for these fall detection devices, undetectable falls can include a gradual slide from a seated position - such as from a wheelchair - which may not register as a fall.
Fall detection devices do not detect 100% of falls.
If able, one should always push their panic button if they need help.
The range of the medical alert pendant button may vary due to differing environmental factors.
As a note of caution, to reduce any risk of strangulation, good medical alert companies provide neck cords which are designed to break apart under certain conditions.
However, any cord worn around the neck can pose a strangulation risk, including the possibility of death and serious injuries.
This may be of more concern to wearers in wheelchairs, using walkers, using beds with guard rails, or who might encounter other protruding objects upon which the cord can become tangled.
A viable alternative would be a wrist style alert button.
At some point, fall detection devices may become more reliable and less costly.
In our opinion, fall detectors are not yet ready for prime time.
Keeping Seniors safe since 1981.
Learn more about medical alert systems here: http://www.
avitallink.
com
This seems like the perfect solution for sudden events: a fall down some stairs that renders a person unconscious or a sudden event like a heart attack, stroke or seizure that makes it difficult or impossible to press the panic button.
As a practical matter, do these devices really work and are they worth the increased cost? As far as we can tell, fall detection devices have their genesis in the industrial and law enforcement world.
It must be noted that there is a huge distinction between a 40 year old healthy police officer and an 88 year senior citizen.
When the police office goes down, it is often sudden.
When an elderly person goes down, it is not necessarily a sudden event.
It could be a simple activity of daily living: reaching for a dropped bar of soap in the shower or some sort of rapid movement (unrelated to any real emergency).
This is what we know from our research.
Fall detectors have to be able to distinguish between a simple postural change such as bending over or reclining on the sofa versus a fall caused by tripping over the cat or a sudden heart attack.
When that distinction cannot be reliably made, false alarms occur.
When false alarms occur, upset happens.
The elderly one gets upset, friends and family who are notified get upset and the responding authorities get upset.
Not to mention the wasted resources related to a false dispatch.
From the largest medical alert company in the country to the new comers to the medical alert arena who now offer fall detection devices, the same issues arise, reliability and cost.
These devices seem to be of questionable reliability, thereby making the increased cost hard to justify.
It has been reported that based on the number of detected falls that have been reported for these fall detection devices, undetectable falls can include a gradual slide from a seated position - such as from a wheelchair - which may not register as a fall.
Fall detection devices do not detect 100% of falls.
If able, one should always push their panic button if they need help.
The range of the medical alert pendant button may vary due to differing environmental factors.
As a note of caution, to reduce any risk of strangulation, good medical alert companies provide neck cords which are designed to break apart under certain conditions.
However, any cord worn around the neck can pose a strangulation risk, including the possibility of death and serious injuries.
This may be of more concern to wearers in wheelchairs, using walkers, using beds with guard rails, or who might encounter other protruding objects upon which the cord can become tangled.
A viable alternative would be a wrist style alert button.
At some point, fall detection devices may become more reliable and less costly.
In our opinion, fall detectors are not yet ready for prime time.
Keeping Seniors safe since 1981.
Learn more about medical alert systems here: http://www.
avitallink.
com
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