Medical alert for woman who gardens

Robin wrote:

I’m an accident prone, recent widow who has lost her self confidence in my ability to “know, spacious ally, where my body is” when my eyes are closed. I live alone, far from my family and close friends. Loss of confidence is a biggie. Plus, I enjoy working in my yard, and worry about receiving aid in the event of an accident with my power tools.

I’ve crossed off of my list any service that requires two way conversation via base unit or cell phone. Chances are, misfortune will happen when neither device is at hand.

My reply:

Hi, Robin–

Thanks for reaching out! It sounds like you’re going through a tough adjustment. I think your instinct to get a medical alert is a good one.

You are so right to cross off the “base station speakerphone” models and the ones that link to your cell phone.

There are two basic options I think would be best for you.

The Medipendant (http://getmedipendant.com) will give you the coverage you need in your garden and around the house. The pendant is a self contained cordless phone so you can have a two-way conversation with the monitoring center without shouting. I think it’s about $27 a month paid yearly, and you can cancel anytime and get the rest of your money back.

The GreatCall 5Star Responder is a standalone cell-phone based unit with GPS that dials a monitoring center or 911 depending on how long you hold down the button. Works anywhere you get a good cell signal. And believe it or not, it’s cheaper (around $15 a month).

The 5Star is a good unit. my only real concern is that because the battery needs charging it might be on the charger when you need it. The battery in the Medipendant lasts a year.

Costco just started selling a new GPS cell-based unit (ecare+voice) and I took a look at it before starting this reply. It’s very similar to the 5Star but much more expensive and has a 1 year contract.

Here’s a recent question/answer that goes into more detail about the 5Star product. https://findtherightalert.com/questions-from-real-people/cellular-based-pers-medical-alerts

Please write back if you have more questions.