Had a little situation this past weekend where Maryann took a fall and was unable to contact anyone for a while. This prompted me to look into the Medic Alert or Life Line systems that are available. Found one on line that costs a little over $27 a month, so we are going to give it a whirl. It should be here in a couple of days. It consists of a speaker that hooks ahead of your telephone and when you press the button which is on a device on your wrist or you can hang it around your neck, within a very short time someone comes on your phone through the speaker to check with you. If you have hit the button accidentally, you let them know and if you don't respond, they go through a pre-arranged protocol of calling someone you have identified to check on you. You can be up to 800 feet from your phone and press the alert button and it will notify them, so you could actually be outside on the lawn.
In regards to responding, the guy told us you should be able to respond from anywhere in our house and they should be able to hear you, however, once we get the system, they will test it out. Not sure how this would work if you had the TV on though, but am sure we will find out.
Also, another thing, with the company I contacted, is that there is a second button that they will set up for another person in the house for free. Ever since I had my first heart attack, Maryann always has a concern as to what and where I am and on a number of occasions have seen her in her power chair out to check to see where I was. Although I don't feel I need it, we will be setting up the second button so I can wear it, which will make things a little more worry-free for Maryann.
Everything sounds good and they tell us that if we are not satisfied, we can get our money back, so appears to be a kind of a no risk situation and a big relief for both of us as well as our kids.
Below is the web site I contacted and more information on it - Will let you know how it works out:
http://www.medicalguardian.com/ (http://www.medicalguardian.com/)