Question:
I am looking at medical alarm devices for my mother. It looks like the popular ones are the philips lifeline, life alert, and alert 1 – with the lifeline being the most popular. I just started my research. Do you have any info about the philips lifeline or any of the other medical alarms? My mother lives alone and these devices seem to be a good idea.

Answer:
Hello, I’m sure she appreciates you looking after her and I actually do know some information about medical alarm devices.

Typically with a medical alarm, the user (your mother) would wear the device as a necklace. The necklace is usually made with thick nylon string similar to a shoelace and has the device hanging from it. With the philips lifeline, the device is about 1.5 inches long and 0.5 inches wide and 0.25 inches thick. There is just a single large button that when pressed contacts the medical alarm provider via phone and someone answers – 24 hours a day to help. The wearer can describe the problem or emergency to the provider and that person would contact the appropriate people immediately – while always maintaining communication. Lifeline recently released the AutoAlert which will detect if someone falls and dials the emergency provider automatically. This is important because there are times when someone falls and is not conscious so pressing a button is not an option.

There is a monthly fee for having the 24 hour a day emergency contact available by phone and I believe it is around $50 a month for the Philips lifeline. The cost of the device alone is anywhere from $70 – $195, depending on which brand you choose. I am only familiar with the lifeline by philips but I hope to provide more information about the other devices in a new article in the next couple of days – including reviews.

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