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Updated 8/24/15 4:28pm | This question is one of Alert1’s most commonly asked questions. As everyone seems to ponder this medical alert related question, we thought it would be nice if we answered this question for everyone to know. The answer to this question depends on who you want to show up. The beauty of the Alert1 medical alert system is that we customize who we contact to show up to best fit your situation.
When you press your emergency call button, the first thing that happens is that the POM calls the command center. Once the POM reaches the command center, a representative there will ask you what assistance you need. Now, pushing the button does not necessarily mean that there is an emergency, as you could be calling your contacts or just be testing your medical alert button.
If there is an emergency, who will show up to help me?
Who shows up depends on the situation. Most likely someone from your contact list will show up. This includes the people you want to notify and the people you seek for help.
You can have up to three contacts and they usually include family, friends, and/or neighbors. The really neat thing is that you can always change your contact protocol whenever you want to. Examples always help, so let’s look at Jenna from the snowy slopes of the Sierra Nevada to understand this better.
Jenna is setting up her contacts and is currently contemplating who to include. Her daughter Louise lives in the hot and sunny land of Arizona, so she lives too far away to offer help to Jenna should an emergency arrive. However, her son Barney is a perfect contact because he lives literally 5 minutes away. Jenna would also like her best friend Josie to be up to date on her status, so she wants Josie to be notified whenever something happens. Jenna therefore creates her contact list to be:
- Call Barney for help
- Notify Louise (her daughter in Arizona)
- Notify Josie (her best friend in Florida)
What if there is a more appropriate way to address the emergency?
Personal contacts may not always be enough, if it's a true health emergency. We always seek to understand the situation first so that our emergency operators quickly send the help you need.
Let’s go back to Jenna’s story. Let’s imagine that one night, Jenna woke up to the sound of someone rifling through her silverware on the first floor. Scared, Jenna pressed her emergency call button. Her POM then chimed, “Hello, Jenna, how may I assist you?”
Kelly whispered, “I think there’s a robber on my first floor.”
“Ok,” the representative whispered back, “should I call 911 and then notify your son, daughter, and Josie?”
“Yes, please do.”
The police arrived in 5 minutes and found out an open patio door and a pair of black bears rifling through the silverware. Situation resolved.
At Alert1, we always try to access the situation in order to see what would be the best possible solution.
What if I can’t speak during the emergency?
Luckily, Alert1 is prepared for emergencies when you can’t speak. When that happens, we will send help.
Now, let’s imagine that Jenna from the bear break-in tumbled off her stairs on the backyard patio. When she did so, Jenna pressed her emergency call button. As Jenna can’t speak to the POM from the backyard patio, her representative would notice that Jenna didn’t speak. Thus, the representative would immediately send help.
Thus, the representative got in contact with Jenna’s son, Barney, and he got to Jenna’s house about 8 minutes after the accident. After successfully contacting Barney, the representative also notified Jenna’s daughter and best friend Josie about the fall. Luckily, Jenna only got a few scrapes.
What happens if my emergency contacts don’t pick up?
Sometimes, when you press your emergency call button, the contacts you prefer to be notified first do not respond. Don’t worry about that. We’ve prepared for that senior emergency too! When your contact doesn’t respond, we go down to the next contact. When there are no more contacts left, we call emergency services.
Now imagine that poor Jenna now has a fire in her backyard grill! Her first choice responder, her son Barney, is gone on a business trip to Costa Rica. As her daughter and best friend live too far away to be of any help, the command center called 911 to get Jenna the help she needed. For other instances of fires and smoke in the home, Alert1 can protect you with our monitored smoke alarms.
