My 90 year old Mom, under orders from us seven kids not to sign anything or let ANY salesman in her door, signed a three year contract with the First Alert company. Any way you can help us get out of this overpriced contract? ANY information would be helpful…………Thanks…Dennis

REPLY

Hi Dennis,

That doesn’t sound like First Alert, I don’t think they have a 3 year contract.

If the company has a cancellation policy, simply cancel and move on to a company that does not lock you into their company so unnecessarily.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

Hello Jeff,

I was visiting your blog or your web site..

blog.seniorsafety.com

What do you think of Life Alert of Encino, California?  Do you recommend their service for my mother who is an 84 year-old woman with vascular dementia, osteoporosis and congestive heart failure, living in the East San Fernando Valley, zip code 91606?

My experience recently is that Life Alert may not be best in customer service.
Speaking with their dispatch supervisor this evening, I think if it were me I might be better off wearing a piece of French toast around my neck.  Do you recommend another service?

Thanks for your help on the issue of senior safety, especially for your blog that suggests posting emergency information on refrigerators, and the article on Pets for Senior Citizens.  My mother is trying to take of 4 cats and a dog at home by herself.

David

REPLY

Hi David,

I can’t really speak to Life Alert’s service as I have never experienced personally. I’m quite sure they would be better than wearing toast around your mother’s neck.

However, you should check out every medical alert companies brochure and talk to their people on the phone to decide how you feel about them.

When you order anyone’s system, make sure you have a reasonable cancellation period like our’s which happens to be a 30 day return policy, money back guarantee, no questions asked. That way you can test the system live a few times and if you are unhappy with the service move on to the next.

Personally I’m biased to our Get Help Now medical alarm that as you know you can find right here at seniorsafety.com

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

Now we have the system…it’s tested and working (so easy!), and my mom wants to know if she can keep the necklace on in the shower? If you have already provided this info somewhere, I apologize for not finding it on my own.

Thanks,

Mary

REPLY

Hi Mary,

Absolutely mom can where it in the shower or tub, just not in the swimming pool. The pool’s chlorine will effect the seal of the help button necklace she is wearing, eventually causing the seal to become brittle and break.

We feel your mother should absolutely wear the pendant transmitter in the shower or tub, it is one of the most critical places where senior citizens fall and can’t get help.

Jeff

…but when I used the live chat to ask about using your system with our fiber optic phone service (Verizon FIOS) I was told it wouldn’t work.  Is that correct?  We do not use VOIP and I thought FIOS was more like DSL.  But maybe not.

Actually I thought our consideration might be electricity - as I understand it, the FIOS uses on a box that’s hooked up to electricity and is therefore subject to power outages.

Can you clear all of this up before we take our next step?

Thanks very much,

Mary

REPLY

Hi  Mary in Florida,

I am not familiar with FIOS. I would be most happy to research exactly what it is with Verizon.

If you can wait a day, or possibly hours, I can let you know if we can work with it.

Unless you know, do you just plug a standard phone into an rj11 outlet…standard phone outlet…and then the phone works. If that is the case, our system will work.

Please let me know before I do research.

Thanks,

Jeff

HER REPLY

I just spoke with Verizon, so if anyone else asks…the fiber is simply an upgrade to the copper wiring of old land lines.  Otherwise, the difference is that, if there’s a power outage, the isn’t a generator down at a substation that kicks in to keep the phones working — it’s the battery backup in your own house.  So it does work the same…and I’ll be placing our order later today!

Thanks for the quick response to my question.

Mary

REPLY

Great thanks for the new info.

Jeff

Hi,

 Do you know if Medicare will help pay for this.  My Mother is on a fixed income but she needs this.

 Thanks,

Tammy

REPLY

Hi Tammy,

To my knowledge, Medicare does not pay, but on occassion Medicaid does pay for medical alarm systems.

So if your mom qualifies for Medicaid, I would give them a try.

Our Get Help Now system by seniorsafety.com is not a Medicaid provider, and we are not First Alert.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

I have an employee who’s mother has Lou Gehrig’s disease and cannot move her arms. The father is also in the home caring for the mother.

They are looking for a voice activated medical alarm in case something happens to the father and the mother has to be able to notify someone. Is there anything like this on the market?
Thank you,
Beatrice

REPLY:

Hi Barrie,

My former distributor and friend Bay Area Vital Link…from the first company I founded in 1981…I believe does have a device that you can blow into to activate the alarm.

I feel for your employee as my own father passed from ALS in the mid 80’s.

Here is the website, and Arthur Hoffman would be the man to speak to.

www.vital-linkinc.com

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

I need to get some type of medical alert device for both my Mother and Father. But our home is quite large. If there is only one device that calls and they respond into, how does that work from the kitchen, to the den, to the bedroom to the bathroom and another bedroom and bathroom way down the hall? 

Recently my Mother has fallen twice and all she needed was assistance to get up and not an ambulance. Our home is so large that my Father could not hear her and he could not have assisted her anyway. Is there any company that has multiple base units?

Pat

REPLY

Hi Pat,

One device will suffice in your large home. Your parents simply both need to wear their own help button to notify us that they need help. Even if your parent couldn’t be heard or was unable to speak, we would still know that they are in trouble and send out the local 911 services in your area…that may be the fire department, EMS or paramedics. It all depends on your city.

Multiple speaker boxes in the home can cause a problem, since both will be receiving the signal simultaneously. The pendant transmitter (help button) that they wear on their neck or wrist will work up to 300 feet or more…it all depends on your local environment.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

“Rescue Alert” offers a lufetime payment.  I hate bills coming in and wonder if this is wise. Under this plan they say you own  your own unit.  Do they hold up well?  I am tempted with this.  What do you think?  I am 86.

Elynore

Honolulu, HI

REPLY

Hi Elynore,

It seems to me that they are one of the good companies. However, I personally don’t feel that buying the equipment is a good way to go.

If you like their company, just set up an  automatic payment scheme…I’m sure they take credit cards or direct payment through your bank.

I would also suggest that you peruse the information here about our medical alert system, I believe we give the best service in the land…it’s really not about the medical alert equipment…it’s about the service behind it.

In the past, I have spoken to the President of Rescue Alert to discuss industry matters and he seems like a nice chap running a clean business.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

Jeff,

My mother has a very soft voice and is also hard of hearing. My concern is placement of the speaker box in our 2 story house so that she would be heard in the event of a fall. Where would we place it (her bedroom is upstairs but she spends her days downstairs) so that she could communicate with your operator? What is the range of your speaker box?

Thanks.

Alice

Reply

Hi Alice,

The speaker box to our GET HELP NOW medical alarm system is best placed centrally within the house. We hear pretty well throughout a 3000 square foot home.

Conversation through the speaker box, with a soft spoken lady like your mom may be difficult depending where she falls and which way she is facing. Nonetheless, we will know that she is in trouble and alert her local 911 EMS service that mom has fallen and needs help.

Even people with strong voices sometimes are in an a difficult position in the corner of a basement and may have trouble being heard as in a conversation, or worse yet, sometimes they are unable to speak at all. But, we still know they are in trouble and send help.

I suspect since your mom’s house is a 2 story home one of the best placements for the speaker box would be near the stairs.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller

Good morning Jeff, found your Website through Google. Here’s my dilemma. My 80 yr.old mother

and 75 yr. old dad live in Irvine ,KY. Aprox. 20 miles out of town. There is no cell service there.

(I live in Dayton, OH) Mom has emphysema and drags around an oxygen hose 24 hrs. a day.

Last Tuesday she took her first fall (in 10 yrs.)from becoming tangled in that hose. Dad was out

in the garage/barn puttering and had no way of knowing she fell. She rug burnt her face some

and was VERY sore for a couple of days but was lucky enough ,this time, not to break anything.

What I’m looking for is some kind of a personal, not Lifeline systems, alert system that they both

can wear on their persons and use to contact each other if necessary. They already have walkie

talkies that they both forget to turn on or leave lying someplace she can’t reach. She would need

Dad long before any emergency personal could reach them. Can you help me? Thanks a million,

Lana

REPLY

Hi Lana,

I would recommend our GET HELP NOW medical alarm system for your parents. It will cover the needs you stated…and in my opinion we give great service.

However, regardless if you choose Senior Safety for your medical alert system or another. You’re thinking is correct, it’s time to protect mom and dad with a dependable medical alert system.

Hope this helps,

Jeff Miller