Because the number of medical alert companies can be overwhelming, I’ve selected a few that I like to include on this page. I hope this will make your decision easier.
My Favorite Medical Alert
My favorite medical alert is the Medipendant by Medical Alarm Concepts. I think it’s got the best mix of great coverage throughout the house and yard, combined with ease of use and a company that really stands behind their product. It’s a monitored medical alert that has a pendant you can talk through (instead of a speakerphone base station). Read my Medipendant review.
No-fee Alerts
No fee alerts call your friends and family instead of a monitoring station. Some people like them because you don’t have to pay the monthly fee to the monitoring company. The two units I like best are the Logicmark Guardian Alert 911 (approx. $150) and the Logicmark Freedom Alert (approx. $280).
Standard Monitored Medical Alerts
For standard speakerphone models, pretty much all the companies provide very similar equipment and very similar monitoring. Two companies I like are Bay Alarm Medical and LifeStation.
Advanced Monitored Medical Alerts
As noted above, for talk-through-the-pendant functionality, I like the Medipendant.
Cell Phone and Mobile Alerts
For cell phone and mobile alerts, I like the products from GreatCall, including the Jitterbug cell phone with 5Star Personal Security and GreatCall’s new GPS panic button that connects to the 5Star Personal Security system. (Read more about the GPS panic button here.)
If the whole point of wearing a personal alarm unit is for emergencies, why are they all so UGLY? My mother keeps hers in a drawer and I don’t blame her! I wouldn’t give it to my neighbor’s barking dog to wear. It looks like it’s worth all of 35 cents. If these companies who distribute these devices are truly concerned about their customers’ welfare, why don’t they give them an ATTRACTIVE pendant to wear so it will actually be worn as intended? Shame on them.
I agree! A while ago I wrote a blog post all about this. I think it has a lot to do with the lack of value our culture as a whole places on the elderly. Sorry, but older people still care about how they look!