When living at home (with or without a spouse) as a senior, the risk for falling always remains. This is not to say that when a person falls they are going to hurt themselves. However, in the worst possible situation, when a person falls and is by themselves (without the strength to pick themselves back up), a lot harm can be occur. Dehydration sets in which can lead to more serious complication such as a stroke.
The fall itself may not be preventable, but there are easy steps to decreasing the likelihood of a fall: sitting down when tired, moving through a house slowly and carefully, turning on the lights before getting out of bed, installing grab bars and leveling out the walking areas. However, even with these precautions, falls are still a fact of life and they happen with young and old. The only difference is, younger people are able to pick themselves up and are much less impacted by the actual fall. Elderly often go into a state of shock or do not have the strength to stand back up. When this happens, they can be lying on the ground until they are either able to reach a phone and call for help, or someone notices them (both can take hours).
The time that passes from when the person falls and receives help is extremely critical. The longer they wait, chances of injury and bodily harm increase as well as the time it takes to heal (if any injuries occurred). There is a simple solution to all of these: medical alert devices. A medical alert includes a base unit and necklace or bracelet transmitter with an emergency button in the middle. The base unit plugs into a phone line and as soon as the transmitter button is pressed, a signal is sent to the base unit, which then dials out to a central monitoring station. The operators at the central station are trained to assist in the event of an emergency and assess the situation. They are able to hear the clients in distress via the main unit’s amplified speakers and microphone and if necessary, will dispatch emergency responders.
In general these transmitters are water resistant and can be worn in the shower, where a lot of slips and falls happen. They are lightweight, extremely durable and are generally unobtrusive (they can be worn underneath garments).
[ad_2]Source by Peter Simons