Mom needs a fall detection medical alert bracelet that will send help and stay on the line

Reba wrote:

Hello my mom needs a bracelet alert that will automatically detect the fall and send help and contact a family member as well and possibly stay on the monitor with her till help arrives thanks so much.

My response:

If your mom truly needs a medical alert that will detect a fall, there are a few available.

The first place to check is Medical Guardian. They recently started selling a fall detection system. It’s an in-home system and it works without a land line (the base station uses a cell signal). To see it on the web, click the link above and then scroll all the way to the bottom and look for the “fall detection” link in the footer area. You can’t buy it online yet, but it would be worth a call to them to discuss the features.

The system from Philips LifeLine is similarly priced, but see below for one potential difference between these systems that gives Medical Guardian the advantage.

I’ve recently heard of a small mobile medical alert with fall detection, but I’m not ready to recommend it until I can actually see one for myself.

Keep in mind that as of yet there’s no bracelet or wristwatch version with fall detection. All of the fall detection medical alerts I know of are pendant style units that are usually worn around the neck (though most can also be clipped to your belt).

For any of these units, you’ll be signing up for monitoring, which means the emergency call will be answered by a professional monitoring center. The operator can assess your mom’s situation and send the appropriate help. For example, if she’s just fallen without getting injured, they can call you or a neighbor to help her out.

Medical Guardian definitely stays on the phone until help arrives. It’s not clear whether Phillips does. Their site says, “After assessing the situation, our Associate will contact a neighbor, family member, or emergency services based on your specific situation, and follow up to confirm help has arrived.” That makes me think they don’t.