We live opposite my wifes granny, she has fallen today and it looks like she has broken her hip. Has anyone any experience of Personal alarm services? Its the service were the person carries a pendant thing with a button on it, press the button and it alerts a help center. Ive seen it before in sheltered housing but not in private housing.

Has anyone had one installed for older people? Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
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Yes MIL fell and broke her hip earlier this year so we organised the facility through Care Link a company set up and run by Derbyshire Council , cost is about £30 pm .
It gives the wife piece of mind and MIL has used it on one occasion , any particular questions ?

Julian

Hi Lurcher, thanks for the reply.

I was just wondering if some companies are better than others? My wifes gran is 87 and the paramedic said she will be in hospital for a few weeks. I've seen a few websites and the price varies quite abit. I will check out our local council and see if they offer a service.

Thanks again Lurcher.  Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

Same here , she is 87 and was in hospital 2 weeks , she broke her hip whilst out shopping in April and has lost her confidence and hasn't left the house on her own since .
Hope she recovers well

Thanks Lurcher, apparently she was on her own for a couple of hours after she had fallen. We had tried to persuade her before to have one of these alarm things but she wouldn't have it. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

The wife's nan is in hospital now, due to falling down, during the night and wasnt found till midday the following day, broken hip in two places

She had a help pendant, on the bedside cabinet

Please if you go down this route, make sure they wear it  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

hi stevie,
we're in Elland and my other half is partly disabled and can fall over at times so when I'm not at home she has a button. It is supplied by calderdale council. On the couple of occasions she has used it they have arrived within 15 mins and on one occasion it had a slight malfunction they still turned out in the same sort of time to check everything was ok. we have a keysafe on the outside wall so they can get access at any time. If the person needing it is on any sort of welfare benefit you can get it for free. If you pm me I'll dig out the number for you if you want.

Cheers
Ray

Wife's mum and dad have one along with pulls in every room. They have never had to use it but their smoke alarms are connected to the system as well, and they often burn the toast and set the alarm off and within seconds their on the intercom asking if all is okay...
It's a very handy thing to have even if its only used the once

Hope your wife's Nan get better real soon Stevie BETTER looking half of the famous Twinlanders
The wanna be other half - http://www.freel2.com/forum/member-carriec.html

Last edited by Slaneydore on 15th Nov 2013 6:14 am. Edited 1 time in total

I used to work in Social Care for older people.

The replies already posted are pointing you in the right direction. As far as I know all Councils offer a Helpline service either directly or outsourced. The best system is the pendant type (rather than pull cords which can be out of reach following a fall). It is linked to the telephone system and pressing the button will alert the 24 hr monitoring service who will be able to try to speak to the person over the system to check if false alarm. If not they will organise a response.

Whether it is useful or not depends on the person being prepared to wear the pendant from the time they get up to the time they go to bed. My own Mother in Law used to hate it but to shut us up would wear hers whenever she visited us, 50 miles from the base unit so useless of course. Truth was though that she would have poked her eyes out before wearing it around the house, she said it made her feel old! That refusal eventually contributed to her death in the end as when she needed to she was unable to get help from anyone until it was too late.

As mentioned the system also needs a key safe to be installed to allow helpers to access the property. There is a cost that varies but isn't a lot for the system installation and then a rental charge - worth every penny especially for the family!!

The Hospital Social Worker should be able to give you contact numbers at your local council. Hopefully you can get it sorted easily. I hope your Nan makes a good recovery and that the event doesn't shake her confidence too much.

At a higher level of sophistication (and cost) are wearable units that monitor movement so if there is none for a setable length of time then all hell breaks loose. Everyone can spread it - Anyone can catch it. Stay home - the life you save can be your own!

Thanks for all the replies! Gran is having a hip operation this afternoon. I have spoken to my father-in-law today and he is going to get in touch with the local council about sorting an alarm out. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

That's good to hear, just try to make sure she wears it. If she has a fall in the night, she must press the button straight away, NOT WAIT TIL MORNING, to save disturbing the ambulance people!
Test it once a month to make sure it's working.
Look at getting a keysafe fitted, and check the key in it works.

That's it, lecture over!  SD4 HSE Lux Orkney Grey,Full size spare tyre,Ugly kid glass.

We're looking to get something like this for my mother (a pretty active almost 89-year old) who had a fall recently. How secure are the key safe devices? I have visions of the local thieves simply helping themselves.

Bill

If you look on ebay for digital key safes you will find them , 5 digit combination secured out of view in an agreed place with carers/responders . Some responders may retain the key but this may slow down the response as they go to collect it from an office .

Thanks, Lurcher. It's the "out of view" bit we might be struggling with in her location. I guess the service provider will be able to offer some advice.

Bill