Personal alarms - Admin plse move if wrong section

littlewren

I have severe Osteoarthritis in my hip and waiting for a hip replacement. In the meantime I've become really worried in case I fall as I'm on my own and although I have my mobile, it's not always possible to have it on me. There are several companies that offer personal alarms so it's a bit of a minefield. Is anyone able to help me decide which would be best but also, especially at the moment, the cheapest, plse? Many thanks in advance. 

KxMx

Does your local council offer a personal alarm scheme? May be a good starting point. 

littlewren

I didn't think of asking them, thank you, I will phone them now.

DullGreyGuy

What mobile do you use?

A cousin looked into it when her mum/my aunt had her first stroke and saw the option from the likes of Age UK but it had a £30 monthly fee. Similarly her local council charge £5.75 per week for a monitored service. As her mum had an iPhone she ended up buying her an Apple Watch which doesn't need any monthly payments as long as its in range of your iPhone (in her case the whole flat is). After 1 year you are already making savings -v- the fees to monitor.

She did have another stroke and fell, the watch detected the fall and after 90 seconds of no response it automatically called the emergency services giving her location and send the details to her daughter as her medical emergency contact. 

littlewren

Thank you, I have an Android so wouldn't be able to take advantage of this, it sounds like a great idea!

littlewren

I just phoned the council, they directed me to Careline whose charges are high, I suppose they will all be, but I just couldn't afford to pay what they're asking as I'm a pensioner and on benefits.

Spoonie_Turtle

Is there a way of making it possible to always have your phone with you?  Perhaps a little bag or something to clip a pouch to your clothing, if you don't have pockets and can't always carry it.

The only one I've had personally recommended is handiSOS which is an upfront cost (currently £54.99) but no subscription fee, works with an app on your phone.
Edit: it's just occurred to me I should specify that although it works with an app on your phone, it's literally a button to press.  So one does need to be conscious just long enough to press a button, unlike an automatic alert sent out by watches.

Misslayed

Do you wear a mobile phone pocket @littlewren? (Or a bra as some people call it!) I carry mine in there all the time 😉

DullGreyGuy

littlewren said:

Thank you, I have an Android so wouldn't be able to take advantage of this, it sounds like a great idea!

I am not up on Android so wouldnt want to give poor advice but would be surprised if its unique to Apple... a quick google suggests that Samsung's Android watch has a similar feature.

It does seem to work well, the Mrs tripped the other day and it instantly started the 60 seconds countdown. She obviously pressed the "I'm ok" button to clear it rather than the SOS button. If there is no response within 60 seconds it does a 30 second countdown with an ever louder alarm until that's up at which point it contacts the emergency services and your medical contact (if set up) with your GPS position etc. 

Its a clever system and there are a fair few press stories of people being rescued by it (obv no idea if their stories are real of fake PR from Apple but it worked for our Aunt and appeared to work for the Mrs. 

Savvy_Sue

The downside of relying on a phone (without the link to a smart watch) is that you have to be conscious to use it, BUT there are phones where you can press a single button on the back to dial a pre-set number.

Prevention being better than cure, have you asked for an assessment from occupational therapy to ensure you have the right aids to help you move around safely?

knightstyle

The Apple watch set up to detect a fall and then no movement looks like the best MSE way. Remember you don't need to buy expensive new watch, plenty around with lots of life left in them.
I got a '22 iPhone SE a few months ago for under £100 on marketplace.