When setting up a Careline Alarm, your loved one will be asked for some emergency contacts. Ideally, we recommend having around two or three different people on their list. This article will explain the role emergency contacts play in our Careline Service, whilst also providing some advice on how to choose them.
What are Emergency Contacts?
Emergency contacts are a list of nominated people that can attend the alarm users property when the alarm has been activated. We recommend having someone who is able to attend within 45 minutes and has access to a key.
Most of the time, our alarm users will use family members, neighbours or friends to be their emergency contacts.
Why do I need Emergency Contacts?
Our alarms are used for a wide variety of different reasons. One of the most common reasons for activating the alarm is if the alarm user has a fall and cannot get up. A lot of the time, the user is not injured and is perfectly healthy, but struggles to get off the floor by themselves.
If the emergency services are called for, the wait time can be several hours. This is because the ambulance service will treat this as a welfare call rather than an emergency and have to prioritise emergency calls. This can also cause a large strain on the NHS and emergency workers.
Emergency contacts will usually be able to attend in a reasonable amount of time. Additionally, they are someone the alarm user feels comfortable with which can help to reduce the worry and upset.
What if my contact can’t always attend in 45 minutes?
We completely understand that your loved one’s contact may not always be within 45 minutes of the property. Everyone has commitments like going to work, taking the kids to school etc. When we recommend someone within 45 minutes, we are speaking generally. For example, if your home address is within 45 minutes of the alarm user.
What happens if my Emergency Contacts are not available?
If none of the Emergency Contacts are available, a member of our monitoring team will call the local ambulance service and ask them to attend. Our team will never leave one of our customers unattended to – help will always be called for.
Other Benefits
- The closer a contact lives to an alarm user, the quicker they will be able to get to them in an emergency situation.
- The list of emergency contacts can be updated at any time, just call our customer services team.
- The alarm user can choose who attends when they need help or assistance.
More Information
As always, for more information about our Careline Alarms, call our customers services team on 0808 304 4168. Alternatively, any questions can be sent via email to info@careline.co.uk, or through our ‘Contact Us‘ form and member of the team will be in touch within 24 hours.
