Can anyone recommend a medical alert system for the elderly?

Ok, does anyone else here see that she is no longer safe at home. What would she do if she started a fire in the house?

I bought my mom one from Assistive Technologies. The good thing is that you just pay for it one time, and no monthly fees. The device is programmed to dial up to three people, it does not go through a middle man service

The bad thing is it comes with a design flaw: It has to be worn and my mom is too stubborn to wear it. But any such device needs to be worn.

We hired a local company which also provided home security service, then went into the elder care medical alert field.

Before hiring, I called several companies, including those advertising in the AARP publications, as well as ones I researched online. Some asked for my address, with the intention of sending literature. I explained that I had questions, wanted to get service established, and didn't need their literature. I figured if that's their response, it's not the service I want.

The local company provided excellent service, I think in part b/c it had been in the home protection service for years. If my parent just bent over, the device was activated and someone called. I think one of the actions they took when we went to the hospital once was to keep calling until they reached someone, as the monitor activated, but we were on the way to the hospital before I could think about answering.

I would make a list of the companies, what you want in terms of service (i.e., calling your parent for any posture other than standing or sitting, etc.) and then call to interview them and make a determination which ones can be on the short list. Then have a more in depth interview about their specific actions, policies, and advantages.

The company we hired operated in Michigan, as well as some surrounding states. It was Guardian Alarm.

Guardian Medical Monitoring - Medical Alert Systems (URL)

We used Great Call with my dad and liked it. When he pushed the pendant button or fell it called him through the pendant and asked him if he’d like 911 called or his family. He didn’t have dementia so setting it up that way worked for us. There are other ways of set up