Remember those old Life Alert commercials from the 1980′s? I found a few versions on YouTube today. For many of us, these commercials were burned into our brains, not just because we saw them frequently but also because they became an object of humor. One thing I’ve written about elsewhere is how the very idea [...]

We think of medical alerts as devices to summon help in a medical emergency, or when we’ve fallen and can’t get up, but they can be used in different situations, too. I recently heard of two situations where an elderly person used their medical alert to summon help when they were the victim of a [...]

I recently heard from a woman whose mother’s medical alert system didn’t work properly when her mother had a fall. Turns out the medical alert system had been in place for eight years without being used, and the batteries had never been changed. So when she pressed the button, there wasn’t enough juice left to [...]

What’s going to change with medical alerts as a new group of people retire? Starting in 2011, the baby boomers are starting to retire. For the next twenty years we’re going to have the largest group of retirees ever. Are these retirees going to be different than the retirees who have come before them? Some [...]

As someone who is interested in the whole idea of life alerts and medical alerts, I spend time reading other people’s posts and articles about life alerts. Some of them are just garbage. I’m not going to try to say that all of my articles are brilliant, but I steer clear of total junk. Here’s [...]

Here’s an example of how a medical alert system might be useful. Let’s say your elderly father lives with you in your home. Most of the time there’s someone home to look after him, either you or your spouse, or maybe even your teenage children. So if something happens, like a fall or a medical [...]

I was intrigued by this article at CNN.com about how some hotels in New York City are outfitting their cleaning staff with panic buttons like medical alerts. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/01/new.york.hotel.panic/ Obviously the technology will be a little more complex than a standard medical alert button, because a button worn by a hotel maid for her to use [...]

Everyone has seen the television commercials that show how important a medical alert system can be for the elderly. If you fall or have a medical emergency, these devices can actually save your life or limit the negative impact of the accident on your health. While seniors living alone should have these devices as a [...]

This post is just a bit of a rant. I don’t understand why the medical alerts from the major companies that make them are all so ugly. It’s not the base station that bothers me so much. (But maybe it should.) But the pendants are godawful. It’s clear they are made using the cheapest materials [...]

I was just looking at pricing for a company that sells home med alerts to the elderly. Their service is a very typical one. For $26.95 you get a two-way speakerphone alert system. So far so good. But when I got to the accessories area, I got scandalized. Extra panic buttons are $3 a month, [...]