Does this sound familiar?
“My 78 year old mom was walking around her condo front yard. She fell outside and broke her hip and no one was around to help. Her cell phone landed 15 feet away from her and she couldn’t crawl to it. She had a wireless life alert pendant, but it didn’t work as she was too far away from her condo (were the base station was located). She had to wait 2 hours before someone found her. She could have died.” Cookie S.
This could happen to anyone! Wireless life alert systems are extremely limited, and really require the person to be close to their “base station” which is in their home or bedroom.
An investigation of various remote monitoring and alerting systems for use by people afflicted with Alzheimer’s, mentally or physically challenged, elderly, children, pregnant women, and senior citizens has been conducted. This report examines the considerations, features, benefits and cost of various solutions.
| Physically and mentally challenged people need a fully automated system that calls for help when they can’t! |
Background
If you or someone you love has disabilities that limit their mobility or cannot always be left alone, then you should consider a remote monitoring and alerting system. There are many systems available, and consideration should be given to the individual’s lifestyle, disabilities and caregivers. Many individuals challenged with physical and mental limitations can still have some independence which gives them personal freedom while offering their loved ones a break from constant care.
A remote monitoring and alerting system benefits both the needy and their caregivers. People afflicted with Alzheimer’s, mentally or physically challenged, elderly, children, pregnant women, and senior citizens can face moments where they need help. Not all the time, but in emergency situations. It is during emergencies where a remote monitoring and alerting system is extremely valuable, even life saving.
Technology can surely improve a person’s quality of life while offering relief to loved ones and caregivers.
However, technology also introduces other problems. One area in particular is wheelchairs. Wheelchairs can extend an individual’s mobility, but it also means they can potentially travel further from home or available help.
Regardless of age, individuals with limited walking mobility find comfort in manual and motorized wheelchairs. Manual wheelchairs are either self-propelled or pushed by a caretaker. Recent developments in manufacturing technologies and cost offsets by insurance carriers have resulted in increased use of power wheelchairs and motorized scooters. Regardless of the type of wheelchair, they provide mobility, personal freedom and improved quality of life.
Power wheelchairs can travel between 10 and 15 miles on a single battery charge. This distance can potentially place an individual far from either home or other caregiver. The convenience of this power wheelchairs certainly add value to a person with limited mobility. Many people use them not only for moving around the house, yard, residential development, but also for traveling to local shopping centers and visiting friends and family.
Wheelchairs can be dangerous and it is advised that users should bring a cell phone with them when they travel. However, some people have difficulty in using a cell phone. Others may have sudden attacks that prevent them from using a cell phone.
This investigation examines alternatives to cell phones that provide greater reliability, convenience and just may be more effective at limiting physical damage and pain and saving lives.
| A power wheelchair user can travel to areas far from home or help. A sudden accident could evolve into a fatality if help is not immediately notified. |
What is Monitoring & Alerting?
Monitoring and alerting are two different things. Monitoring measures parameters such as physical conditions (e.g., heart rate, body position). Alerting is a report of a monitored parameter. Many systems monitor, fewer systems alert and even fewer do both.
Between monitoring and alerting, the most critical is alerting. When a person is in trouble, they need to alert someone for help. However, in an unexpected accident they may not have the ability to call for help. In this situation, automated alerting would be required. The complication with automated alerting is that it requires monitoring.
Monitoring is accomplished by various sensors. For people who are moving the sensors are generally battery-powered. Sensors send data to a computer chip for analyses. If something is wrong then an audible or visible alarm goes off (that alarm is the “alerting” part). Some alerts are more sophisticated and can provide a text message or email. Even more sophisticated are alerts that send messages via telephone.
The Value of Monitoring AND Alerting
Real-time monitoring and alerting for your power wheelchair or any mobile medical device can significantly reduce the danger associated with accidents or physical collapse. A monitoring system can track the user’s location, vital signs, equipment maintenance issues, and can offer a “panic button” all coupled to an automated alert notification system that can be configured to notify the user’s doctor, ambulance, family members, neighbors, local first responders, and other caregivers.
Things you should look for in selecting a Health Care Monitoring & Alerting System:
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Rechargeable batteries: Provides years and eliminates the
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Global Positioning: The chair would be constantly tracked for location. Authorized individuals could access a web portal to see on a “Google maps” display the exact position of the chair at any time. If an alert is ever issued by the chair the global position would accompany the alert minimizing effective response time.
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Geo fencing: Authorized individuals could establish “geographic bounds” beyond which the chair would issue an alert as determined by the user.
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“Wireless Panic Button”: The user could initiate an alert manually at any time sending the alarm and geographic location, etc. to a pre-determined, prioritized list of responders and get a response back to the device to let them know that there alert has been heard and someone is responding.
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Vital Signs Tracking (optional): The user can wear a “harness” or “vest-like” apparel that would track vital signs (breathing, heart rate, moisture, temperature, heartwave activity, prone position, etc.) and issue alerts to pre-determined individuals given “out-of-bounds” conditions.
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Chair Vital Signs: Selected elements of the chair itself could be monitored such as battery life, on/off, motion, speed, etc. and alerts issued to pre-determined individuals given out-of-bounds” conditions.
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User Registry: the user can create as extensive a registry as they wish to maximize the effectiveness of an emergency response that could contain among other items a personal photo, emergency phone numbers, email addresses, access to medical facts and records, special needs such a diabetes, allergies, previous medical condition, etc.
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24/7 Support(IR)
Consumer Comparison Matrix
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ScooterTracker |
Trimble TrimTrac |
SafetyLink Plus |
AlertOne |
| Requires wall plug electricity |
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| Requires integration with existing landline telephone |
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| Battery operated |
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| Rechargeable |
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| Works in car power (lighter) socket |
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| Mobile (carry with you) |
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| Permanent installation |
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| GPS location data |
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| Detects fallen victim |
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| Sends alert when traveling outside of defined area |
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| Can use wireless panic button |
Completely Wireless |
none |
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| Emergency Alerts |
TelephoneEmailText Message |
EmailText Message |
Telephone |
Telephone |
| Permits 2-Way Interactive Communication |
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| Auto Generated Emergency Response Plans |
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| Self-check Battery Level |
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| Wake-up Calls |
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| Prescription Reminders |
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| Doctor Reporting |
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| Wellness Checks |
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| Health Test Checks |
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| Family Viewing Options |
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| Initiation Fee |
none |
none |
$50.00 |
none |
| Hardware Price (approximate) |
$499.00 |
$450.00 |
Included in monthly fee |
Included in monthly fee |
| Monthly Fee |
$12.95 |
$29.99 |
$49.95 |
$29.95 |
| First Year Fee |
$155.40 |
$359.88 |
$649.40 |
$359.40 |
| 3 Year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) |
$965.20 |
$1,529.64 |
$1,848.20 |
$1,078.20 |
| Cost Index (Lower is Better) |
1.00 |
1.58 |
1.91 |
1.12 |
| Value Index (Higher is Better) |
23 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
| Consumer Rating |
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| Purchase Now |
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Our Commitment To You
We have personally tested each of the products that are recommended to you on this site. We have made an honest effort to bring accurate information to you so that you can make good decisions when deciding which wireless technologies to use.
If you have had favorable experiences (or bad ones for that matter) with these products or others, we would love to hear about it. Please send an email to support@i-consumer.org and we will attempt to include your information on this site. That knowledge will help us improve the information we provide. Thank you for visting this site and...
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