Medical Alert System

Someday We'll Have a Medical Alert System That Monitors the Person's Entire Medical Condition

Until April of 2010, I was only dimly aware of the existence of any kind of medical alert system. I sort of knew there were medical alert necklaces or medical alert buttons that seniors could push if they had a problem, but I didn't know any of the details.

In April 2010 my sister shopped around and signed our mother up for a medical alert system that worked very well, except for our mother's noncompliance with wearing the medical alert pendant around her neck, which obviously not the company's fault.

But I like to speculate, and I soon realized that as they currently existed then, medical alarm companies have a big problem. All their systems require the elderly or disabled person to push a button around their neck.

But what if they are like my mother and don't wear the medical alert bracelet all the time, even when showering and sleeping?

Or what if they hit their head when they fall hard enough to knock them unconscious. I don't know the statistics. It may not be that often. My mother fell and hit her head on the kitchen floor hard enough to start bleeding, but remained conscious. But I think she also softened her fall. Some people may not be able to. They fall from faintness and are out before they even hit the floor.

Some people have strokes which either make them unconscious or reduce their ability to move. So maybe they would have the medical alarm button but be unable to push it. Or too weak. The buttons are made to be pushed firmly, because if they could be set off easily there'd be too many false alarms.

A Medical Alert System Ahead of Its Time

One company, Philips Lifeline, has an auto-alarm device option that can detect most falls and signal the base unit to call their monitor center even when the person does not push the button. They say they are the only ones with this option now. That is a significant advance that addresses the problems I described above - when the person wears the medical auto alarm pendant or bracelet.

And what happens if the elderly person starts having a problem while in bed or just sitting watching television? They may be suffering a heart attack but not fall.

Therefore, I predict that in the not too far future, medical alert systems will be even more sophisticated.

It should be possible to implant monitors inside a person's body, to check on their heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, brain waves and perhaps other factors.

Because they're implants, the elderly person doesn't have to comply, and they shouldn't be irritating anyway. And they can detect any injury or threatening medical condition, then call the company without the elderly or disabled person making any conscious effort. Thus it would work even when the person is no longer conscious.

The Medical Alert System of the Future Will Really Be Sophisticated

It could even be arranged for the measurements to be recorded and transfered to the hospital or attending physician so they can see the person's medical data immediately leading up to the event.

Because that doesn't happen now outside of a hospital, it may even help medical researchers determine what triggers heart attacks and strokes.

Down the road, it may even by possible medical alert system devices implanted to treat the person. They could control intake of medicines, for examples. When blood levels of the medicine go too low, the devices squirts some more directly into the bloodstream. So the elderly person doesn't even have to remember to take their medications on time.

Next: Medical Alert Systems -- medical alarm systems to install for your loved ones.