Life Alert is a 24-hour medical emergency alert system that can be used by seniors or other people who live alone and may need assistance in an emergency when they can't get to a phone. Life Alert is a personal emergency response and home auditing company that utilizes technology to monitor its members in times of crisis. According to the company statistics, Life Alert handles more than 2 million calls every year.
History
Life Alert was founded in 1987 and was made famous by the television commercial that pictured an older woman who fell and called out "Help, I 've fallen and I can't get up." The company received an important endorsement from Dr. C. Everett Koop, the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982 through 1989. Dr. Koop reported that for seniors over the age of 65, accidental injuries in the home are the leading cause of death. Since 1987, numerous other companies introduced similar services and often incorporate the word "alert."
Features
The Life Alert process utilizes a calling unit that is placed in the home and activated by the push of a button on a watch or pendant worn by the homeowner. The call is sent to a call center that can communicate with the homeowner and find out what kind of emergency assistance is required. Life Alert operators then call the appropriate local responders, which may be an ambulance, 911-call center or a family member named on the contact list at the monitoring center. The base unit can receive a signal from the worn alert system for up to 150 feet.
Types
Life Alert Classic is designed to work for senior citizens to provide 24-hour monitoring. In addition to the base unit and personal contact device, Life Alert Classic provides subscribers with a portable cell phone that can contact the Life Alert monitoring station when the user is away. Life Alert +50 is made for younger adults and includes all the same features of the Life Alert Classic plan plus a video monitoring system that protects homeowners against home invasions. Once an intruder has been detected, Life Alert representatives shout through the base unit to scare the intruder away and then proceeds to contact local authorities.
Benefits
In addition to medical emergencies, such as falls, stroke or heart attack, the Life Alert system can be used to report fires, carbon dioxide exposure and break-ins. Life Alert offers home monitoring service for the house when the occupant is not around to send help when a Life Alert smoke detector goes off. After notifying a local fire response unit, the Life Alert center calls the homeowner to advise him of the hazard. When batteries become low on any Life Alert equipment, company representatives send a signal to the user to replace the batteries.
Warning
Consumer Affairs, an online resource to help consumers lodge complaints against manufacturers and retailers, reports that Life Alert and similar home emergency response subscription services prey on elderly citizens' fear of falling. They' hae received reports of insistent, high-pressured telemarketing campaigns. Other consumers have reported difficulty canceling contracts and problems with the installation and upkeep of the equipment. Homeowners should realize that in addition to an initial set-up fee and equipment charge, there is a monthly contract fee that could run as high as $49.95 per month.
