Personal Safety Alarm Technology
With advances in technology there are a growing number of personal alarm and monitoring options to help people stay independent while knowing help is at hand if needed. The latest options include pendants and watches with features like GPS tracking.
One of the most important distinctions is between systems is those monitored by family members or friends and those connected to a professional 24X7 Emergency Response Centre.
The Disadvantages with Family Monitored Personal Alarms
While the benefit of personal alarm systems that phone family and friends in an emergency being no ongoing monitoring costs, there are numerous downsides.
These include;
- – Less certainty around how quickly an emergency call is answered
- – What experience does the person receiving the emergency call have to manage the emergency
- – What information and processes the person answering has, and
- – How other people are informed of the emergency.
For example, if family members are busy, they may not answer the call or assume someone else will. When seconds count for serious health emergencies this can have dire consequences.
It’s also important to note that while effective as a generic solution to help families keep in touch, these devices might not include key features that support independence in the retirement village setting or for older people living at home in the community.
They also do not meet the Australian Standards for personal emergency response in retirement villages, which require a 40-hour back-up battery life to ensure alarms do the job when they’re most needed.
Bolton Clarke has taken a different approach of offering a specific product for the home, InTouch Prime and one for in the community InTouch GO. Both linked to an Emergency Response Centre.
Emergency Response Centre monitored
Bolton Clarke InTouch GO products, Bolton Clarke InTouch GO personal alarms, are an example of GPS devices such as pendants and watches, that connect directly with a 24X7 emergency response centre.
Advantages of this include
- – An average answer time of 20 seconds
- – Calls being handled by an emergency response centre team experienced in dealing with emergencies with a protocol for each situation
- – The team member will stay on the line with the client until help arrives
- – Informing anyone listed on the protocol, as emergency contacts, including family members or neighbours.
This service is effective for health emergencies and for dangers such as intruders or suspicious activity or for fire.
The price of peace of mind
Making the choice between the two options depends on individual circumstances and preferences. For retirement village residents, there are additional considerations around compliance with Australian Standards.
Both options are about the same price to buy with monitoring for the emergency response centre option coming in at around $5 a week. The price of a cup of coffee for a loved one’s emergency safety.
For more information on Bolton Clarke InTouch GO visit Bolton Clarke InTouch
Attribution: This article has been provided courtesy of the Digital Independence Team at Bolton Clarke.