At Home With Life Alert

Another great article - written by Virginia Marin.

"Would you like to live protected at home rather than in a retirement center for a few more years? Do you have health problems which prohibit your living alone? This article is about a life-saving advancement which may help to keep "Seniors on the Move" and at home.

The voice on the television says, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!" No doubt you have heard it, but what does it mean? It means that there IS a way that seniors who live alone can now live at home for a while longer, rather than selling their home and going into one of the many retirement centers dotted across the land.

According to the American Health Care Association, the average age for a person entering a retirement center in the United States is 79 years. If there were a way to extend the time spent in one's own home, wouldn't that be better, financially and emotionally? But, what about accidents? For seniors who live alone and could not reach the telephone in an emergency, who would help them? Now, there is a system to meet the need- Life Alert . No, this is not an advertisement. It is an information alert to seniors, family, and caregivers that Life Alert is one system, among a few others, which can help families.

As the years pass, our health risks increase exponentially. We find ourselves more susceptible to injuries, falls, and fractures, especially those falls related to osteoporosis. There are also life-threatening police, fire, and medical emergencies--for example, every minute in the United States, someone experiences a stroke, with the risk doubling for every ten years over age 55. The American Heart Association tells us that four out of five people who die of coronary disease are 65 years of age or older. And fire? Most deaths from fire occur during sleeping hours between 11PM and 7AM.

But now there is Life Alert to help seniors. Life Alert is a small pendant worn on the person. It is activated by pressing a button which instantly activates a control unit located in one's home. The unit immediately notifies the Life Alert Monitoring Center, beginning a two-way voice exchange between the wearer and an operator. Should there be no response from the wearer, Life Alert immediately notifies the proper authorities, and help is on the way! The pendant also functions on a local 911 basis. The cost is nominal.