A beginners guide to medical alert devices

While a full scale medical alert system is always best for complete protection in a medical emergency, other medical alert devices give you options. 

Wearable medical alert devices such as medical alert smartwatches, medical alert bracelets and neck pendants allow you to carry on with your daily routine with minimal interruption. They're also less cumbersome than a full in-home medical alert package, saving you space and the need to carry around heavier devices.  

Why is considering the different types of medical alert devices important? A recent study found "Worldwide, falls are a leading cause of unintentional injuries in adults older than 65 years old, with 37.3 million falls requiring medical attention and 646,000 resulting in deaths annually."

Fall risk increasing with age is simply a fact of life. Many community based organizations implement a fall prevention program. They offer training in elderly fall prevention. While medical alert devices won’t stop falls in the elderly, they'll certainly speed up the emergency process and give family and caregivers peace of mind.

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In-Home medical alert systems

What is an in-home medical alert system? 

These medical alert devices have a base station and work depending on how far they are from that base range. Most in-home medical alert systems have a two-way speaker and a microphone at minimum. We list some industry favourites below.

On-the-go medical alert systems

What is an on-the-go medical alert system? 

The clear benefit to these type of medical alert systems is their portability. Beyond this, on-the-go medical alert systems are particularly useful if you want to age-in-place gracefully but maintain an active lifestyle of seeing friends, family, or attending hobby classes often.

Depending on the provider, they can be just as discreet at medical alert jewellery and allow you carry out daily duties with confidence you'll be attended to in the event of a fall.

ADT Health's medical alert systems are a fantastic example of these types of mobile medical alert devices. Their On-the-Go mobile GPS medical alert system provided excellent audio in calls with emergency operators. 

Other examples include industry giant Aloe Care with a fully comprehensive mobile life alert option and Bay Alarm Medical. 

Medical alert smartwatches and jewellery 

A medical alert watch for seniors is a practical wearable emergency device. An alternative growing in popularity is medical alert jewellery, medical alert bracelets sometimes called wrist alarms, medical alert necklaces, and medical alert activity bands to wear during fitness. 

Specialist types of medical alert systems

Fall Alarms

Fall alarms are either included or are optional in many medical alert device packages. But you can buy dedicated Fall alert alarms which are worn with a button pendant.

Dementia 

If you are looking after a person with dementia you can use a medical alert system with live GPS. Many medical alert systems have an in-built GPS tracker, like this one from Mindme.

Hearing impaired

There are no dedicated systems for elderly people with hearing impairments, but most companies are trained to deal with a caller who doesn’t respond or who is listed as ‘hearing impaired’. 

In this case the responder will call the emergency services immediately. Look out for reviews on speaker quality too when shopping for a medical alert system, and be sure to test the speaker during a trial. 

Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs can be trained to press the button on a medical emergency device. Assistive Technology Services (ATS) also have a system with extra large buttons to make it easy for a dog to use.

Popular medical alert devices comparison

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