Alarms for the Elderly Living Alone – My Experience
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I like to think of my Grandma as hard as nails and able to handle anything, I hadn’t considered getting her a personal safety alarm until she had an accident one day and fell down the stairs. Thankfully, my Mum was there that day to help her out and call an ambulance, but my Mum lives on the Isle of Man and I live an hour and a half away from Grandma – so we can’t count on someone always being there.
It really shook Grandma up, she loves living independently in the home that she has raised a family in and knows it like the back of her hand. But she was scared about being on her own, worried that if she had another fall she wouldn’t be able to call for help.
When the hospital discharge team told us about specific alarms for elderly living alone, that would alert family members or the emergency response teams if Grandma had another fall it was a no-brainer. Gran could stay in her beloved home and we would be able to sleep at night knowing that if anything were to happen we would know about it and help would be at hand.
Setting up the service
After a short call with a helpful advisor at IndeMe we set up a monthly direct debit to pay for the ongoing response service for Grandma and the equipment was delivered the very next day. The box came with simple instructions to follow, plug the base unit into a mains socket and the telephone socket and then press on the alarm to make sure it’s working. We were able to speak to the response centre there and then, so Grandma could see how it all would work if she needed to press it in future.
Living with the service
The system now sits in the living room, but the unit itself looks quite modern and unobtrusive. Grandma is so happy with the setup in her home, it now allows her to carry on her day-to-day routine without worrying.