How a personal alarm can change your life.

When I was nursing in the community it was always concerning to have the door opened by an older person sporting a black eye, an arm in a sling or a leg in a cast. Some kind of mishap had clearly occurred and there was always a story. All to often the previously independent individual would have suffered a fall, and both the lead up to the fall and the time taken to get help afterwards would be significant factors in the rate of recovery and the level of independence regained thereafter.

When I started providing alarms, I knew that the degree of regained independence would be positively impacted, but better than that – the avoidance of the loss of independence that the early identification and treatment of potential threats deliver.

People getting on with their lives without giving a thought to potential dangers – except perhaps fire, (so they get a fire alarm) except perhaps burglary (so they get a burglar alarm) except perhaps property damage (so they get house insurance). What is it that stops us recognising potential health problems – and getting a personal alarm?

I can recall sitting with older people considering having alarms and having trouble myself working out their reasoning. One lady, living alone, perfectly fit and able other than some arthritis; I said to her ‘Mrs R why am I here?’ she told me that the previous week she had really struggled to get out of the bath, it had never happened before but she struggled and struggled and the water was getting colder, the heating wasn’t on and it was a winters evening and she knew she was in trouble. One final effort got her out, but she realised in that moment that she needed a means of summoning help if and when something unexpected and life-threatening happened again.

Other ‘why am I here?’ moments were when an active older gentleman told me he had had an accident in the garden when his leg was bleeding badly and because he was on blood thinners, the blood flow wasn’t stopping. His garden wasn’t overlooked so again he knew he could not expect anyone to come to his aid. One lady said she had a recurring vision of falling down the steps in her garden as the previous owner had done, and that had concentrated her mind on the need for a personal alarm.

All of these stories demonstrate that getting an alarm early, managing risk rather than admitting frailty, is the key to maintaining independence. It is non-intrusive, inexpensive and gives peace of mind. Everyone concerned will hope it is never needed, just sit there in the corner ready to take action if required and allowing the wearer to continue their independent life but with a safety net should things go awry.

For older people living alone it is easy to see the benefit of a personal alarm. However, people caring for loved ones also have a need for alarms. They may say ‘but I’m not living alone’, and it is in the nature of carers to minimise or deny their own needs in favour of their cared-for partner. So, the question is ‘if you were to have a fall or medical emergency, would your partner be able to summon help for you? If the answer to that question is ‘no’ due to poor mobility or cognitive impairment, then the need for an alarm is even greater because failure to get help for the carer would leave both partners in trouble.