The most common cause of injury in the elderly population is falling. In the United States, around 33% of the elderly fall at least once per year, and these falls result in over 2 million visits to the emergency room. Besides the elderly, people with a physical condition that impairs mobility or balance may become victims of fall. Falls may be prevented by taking precautions around the home. However, when a person falls, they are unable to call for help. With the advent of wearable technology, it is becoming easier to manage this treacherous situation. Many wearable devices now include fall detection features, and here are some of them.
Apple Watch 4 came with a plenty of features, but one of the most talked about was its Fall Detection capability. If the smartwatch detects a hard fall while you’re wearing your watch, it taps you on the wrist, sounds an alarm, and displays an alert. You can choose to contact emergency services or dismiss the alert by pressing the Digital Crown, tapping Close in the upper-left corner, or tapping “I’m OK.”
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Senior care service provider Cerna Home Care launched “Onhand Assistance” – a smartwatch especially designed for seniors. The stylish wearable device provides fall detection, fall notification, vitals monitoring, cellular communication, and medication reminders – in addition to life saving calls and care. Onhand Assistance helps lessen the need for expensive personal caregivers and avoids time consuming ambulance trips to the hospital due to false alarms. Family members monitor their loved one through the Onhand Assistance smartphone app. Seniors, their friends and their families benefit by being better connected inexpensively and effectively.
Electronics giant Philips developed one of the most popular fall detection devices called Lifeline. The hardware for the Lifeline designed for home use is called the HomeSafe system. The system comprises a base unit and a wearable pendant. A series of accelerometers and barometric sensors in the pendant can detect high acceleration forces and sudden changes in barometric pressure – both indicative of a fall. In case of a fall, the AutoAlert system connects the user to the Response Center. A finely tuned algorithm detects true falls and avoids false alarms. If the user falls unconscious and the phone responded cannot establish contact, emergency services are immediately dispatched.
Greatcall’s new Lively Mobile Plus has the fastest call response time, most reliable coverage and enhanced GPS technology to confirm your location. And, you can use it to get help in any emergency, big or small. “In our main review of medical alert systems, GreatCall earned my pick for the best medical alert system overall because it performed the best in all the important areas. The call response time was twice as fast as the second fastest medical alert services,” writes Jeph Preece of TopTenReviews. “From the moment we pressed the help button to the moment the emergency responder asked if we needed help was an average of 14 seconds. It’s also one of the most affordable medical alert systems, with the mobile plan costing less per month than most services’ in-home landline systems, which are outdated and can be severely limiting.”
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Angel4 by Sense4Care is a simple fall detection wearable with no base station or any other accessories. The tiny sensor clips to the waist like an old-fashioned pager or can be worn around the waist with a comfortable, specially designed belt. The device works similar to the Apple Watch 4; when it detects a fall, it starts a countdown that can be interrupted by the user if they do not require medical assistance. If the user does not interrupt until the end of the countdown, the Angel4 sends an emergency call and a series of SMS messages to pre-determined contacts. The message includes an accurate GPS location of the user. The built-in emergency button in the device allows the user to press in case of an emergency.
