Medical alerts are a good idea for everyone to have. Unfortunately they are not free and thus it becomes necessary to really be sure that you need one before investing your money in a medical alert service. To summarize quickly, a medical alert is a device that involves a pendant that is worn at all times and a voice-box communicator. In the case of an emergency, the wearer needs only to push the button on the pendant and a signal will be sent via the voice-box transmitter the monitoring facility that services your medical alert. There a trained operator will ask you, through the voice box, what your emergency is in order to send you the appropriate authorities. Medical alerts are mainly acquired to protect the elderly or disabled from being rendered helpless after a fall or to protect them from dangerous situations such as a complication from a medical condition or a robbery.
If you live with someone else or you are rarely alone, a medical alert may not be necessary for you. When there is someone else in your home, they can help you by calling for help in the case of an emergency. However, if you are medically high risk, consider that you could have a serious medical event when your caregiver is out running errands.The service of calling for authorities is the same whether it is a family member or a medical alert operator. If, however, you are living at home alone and find yourself worrying about your own safety while you are there alone, you may want to look into what services a medical alert system could provide to you.
As far as a specific medical history is concerned, those who have trouble with mobility, serious illness, specific medical conditions and medications, or who have had incidents with accidents in the home are among the most persuasive qualifiers for needing a medical alert. Statistically, as we get older we become more susceptible to illness and injury and it becomes more difficult to heal from such blows to our health. Therefore, seniors are the most common medical alert customers. The risk of injuring yourself in your own home rises dramatically in the years following the age of 65.
For some families the possibility of injury or the actual occurrence of an injury of a senior in their home is cause enough to try to convince that elderly family member that why would be safer in a retirement home or other assisted living center where they can be watched and cared for at all times. For family members this is an excellent option because it allows for them to have the peace of mind of knowing that their loved one is taken care of.
However, such a set-up is rarely what the aging family member would call ideal. There is nothing wrong with living in a retirement home; in fact there are many advantages to doing so. However, there is something about the independence of living in your own home and carrying out your own routines that cannot be duplicated. A sense of independence is lost when a senior moves away from home.
This all too common scenario is perhaps the most compelling qualifier for someone to have need for a medical alert. With all of the reasons why a medical alert may not be possible, loosing one’s sense of independence is often the one thing that makes the effort and investment of researching and purchasing a medical alert worthwhile. If you are someone who is facing the possibility of moving away from your home because you fear for your safety or cannot guarantee that you will be able to get help when needed, a medical alert is for you. At the touch of a button you can have the peace of mind that both you and your loved ones want.
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