You can Choose From Many Medical Alerts for the Elderly

One of the big problems with a medical alert for elderly system is they don't always wear the alert button.

There's one main unit with a button they can press if they're having a problem, but obviously if they have a stroke and they're lying on the floor, they can't press that button.

So they should also have some sort of device that they keep on at all times. My mother had one she was supposed to wear constantly, but she kept taking it off. It was supposed to be worn on even in the shower (which is a dangerous place, one where many accidents can happen to the elderly), but didn't like it. That's also true in bed. She took it off at night, even though she may have needed it while going to and from the bathroom. That was a short way, but long enough for a problem.

A Medical Alert for the Elderly Device Must Be Worn Even in the Shower

In fact, one night she did lose her balance in the bathroom about six o'clock in the morning, fell and could not get up. However, she yelled and woke me up. If I hadn't been there she would have had a big problem, because she was not wearing her medical alert necklace with the button to press, as she knew she was supposed to.

However, that doesn't mean she learned her lesson and from that time on, kept it on all the time she was in the house. Oh no.

This situation is not unique. I have talked to someone else who had the same problem with her mother. Her mother often took off the necklace, keeping it beside her bed.

That woman told her mother, "If you won't wear the medical alert for elderly and something happens to you, I'll refuse to feel guilty."

The one problem of course is that if someone has a stroke, heart attack or some other problem that makes them unconscious or unable to move, even to press a button on a device around their neck or wrist, the medical alert system still won't operate.

medical alert for elderly

Technological Changes Will Improve Medical Alert for Elderly Devices

I supposed that in the future a medical alert for elderly will consist of devices which can noninvasively track the person's EKG and/or EEG. If either their heart or brain function changes significantly, then the device will be programmed to call 911 automatically.

It could be possible to have such a device sit in one room in the house but monitor the elderly person throughout the house and yard, so it doesn't depend on them to have it on them to wear on them, so they could press a button in case of an emergency. Or be unable to press the button in case the stroke, heart attack or whatever made them unconscious or unable to move.

Or else, perhaps such a continuous EKG/EEG monitor could be implanted into the elderly or disabled person's body, so whenever it detects a problem, it immediately dials 911.

That would also allow for continuous monitoring no matter where the elderly or disabled person went. Say they were out driving to the mall. The device could have a GPS chip as well, which would then send the precise location to the 911 EMT team. The senior citizen wouldn't even need OnStar installed in their automobile. It'd be inside them.

A lot of science fictional possibilities are suggested by this. The monitor could be testing blood, urine or lymphatic fluid. Once the EMT team is assigned to the case, they could have a unit call up the medical alert device and obtain ongoing information from within the person's body. This would allow the EMTs to better know what kind of problem they faced, and perhaps to begin preparing for it.

It's obvious that the medical alert for elderly and the disabled has a lot of potential and will grow tremendously in the future.

Next: Medical Alert Necklace -- wear your medical information around your neck.