If you are considering a traditional medical alert for yourself or someone you love, there are some things you should know before you buy:
1.No Protection Outside the Home:
Traditional medical alerts (think LifeAlert, Lifeline, AlertOne, ADT) use a speakerphone base unit and an activator to call for help. If an emergency occurs too far from the speakerphone, the base unit will not receive any emergency signal and the system will not activate.
2. No Protection From False Alarms:
Approximately 95% of traditional medical alert signals are false alarms. Most often this happens when the user accidentally pushes the activator and is too far from the speakerphone to hear the operator. False alarms can be embarrassing and costly—as much as $500 in some cities and counties.
3. Long Wait Times:
The average time between a senior’s push of a traditional alert button and an operator’s answer is one minute thirty seconds.
4.No Protection for Lost Users:
Traditional medical alerts do not store the location of their users and cannot assist them if they are lost or wandering.
