Need recommendation: emergency alert system for a deaf senior

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HP

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My mother is deaf and she's 80 years old. Until recently, she lived with a family member so we did not need any security system for her, but things have changed and she is home alone often these days. I would like to make sure that she has a way to contact someone if there is any emergency. Is there any service or system you can recommend?

A few things:
She does not have a TTY phone or cell phone. She does not need to or is interested in calling or texting someone "just to chat". I looked into mobile phone plans and seems like virgin mobile's plan is the cheapest. However, she is NOT tech savvy at all. I tried to teach her how to switch between cable and DVD but no luck, so I cannot imagine her using any cell phone to text someone!

Is there any other security system that would work for us that is not super expensive? Or if mobile phone has to be the way to go, what carrier/plans would you recommend?

Thank you.
 
Medic-Alert?...Just a push of a button...altho' I've only seen them advertised on TV...
 
HP said:
My mother is deaf and she's 80 years old. Until recently, she lived with a family member so we did not need any security system for her, but things have changed and she is home alone often these days. I would like to make sure that she has a way to contact someone if there is any emergency. Is there any service or system you can recommend?

A few things:
She does not have a TTY phone or cell phone. She does not need to or is interested in calling or texting someone "just to chat". I looked into mobile phone plans and seems like virgin mobile's plan is the cheapest. However, she is NOT tech savvy at all. I tried to teach her how to switch between cable and DVD but no luck, so I cannot imagine her using any cell phone to text someone!

Is there any other security system that would work for us that is not super expensive? Or if mobile phone has to be the way to go, what carrier/plans would you recommend?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

If she has no TTY or cell, does this mean she is late deafened and has speech?

She can dial 911 on a regular phone and just keep repeating she is deaf and what the emergency is. Or they will just trace it to the house if she doesn't say anything.

That being said 80 is a little young to give up on any use of technology. My deaf 90 year old stepmother is perfectly conversant with the use of cell phone technology, and it doesn't keep her isolated that way.

Same for my husband's mother as that is the only way to contact any of us.

There are also programs where they teach seniors to use technology, and maybe you could enroll her in one.
 
Bottesini said:
If she has no TTY or cell, does this mean she is late deafened and has speech?

She can dial 911 on a regular phone and just keep repeating she is deaf and what the emergency is. Or they will just trace it to the house if she doesn't say anything.

That being said 80 is a little young to give up on any use of technology. My deaf 90 year old stepmother is perfectly conversant with the use of cell phone technology, and it doesn't keep her isolated that way.

Same for my husband's mother as that is the only way to contact any of us.

There are also programs where they teach seniors to use technology, and maybe you could enroll her in one.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have friends in their 80's who are tech users.
 
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, she became deaf when she was 50's, and she can speak fine. She just was not interested in learning ways to communicate with other people. (No ASL, no beeper, no texting. Don't ask me why...)

I wish she was that type of 80-90 year olds. I've tried showing her how to use tablet and iPhone for texting, but she was just frustrated and did not want to have anything to do with it. Maybe if I get a traditional cell phone with actual buttons, it might be easier for her... Virgin mobile's plan does not require annual contract, so I was thinking I could get a cheap phone and see if she can actually use it.

I will explain to her that she could call 911 from home phone and keep saying she's deaf as well.
 
I don't know much about it on a landline but I use CapTel on a cell phone. You might want to check out the landline version yourself. It looks to me like it is a matter of using that model phone and going through the signup process.
 
Does anyone know about this service?
If so, what do you like it?

http://www.deaf-sos.com/
 
Ditto with the CapTel phone- for her needs it might work (mine not so much- I hated the old one I have).

As for cell phones- Try Jitterbug- that phone is very very basic and has buttons (the last time I looked- its been a while) and she might be able to understand it better.

My mom and her twin are in their 70s... it's an interesting contrast- My aunt can do okay with technology- she has used computers in her jobs and also has one at her home but she still does get very frustrated with learning stuff (but does eventually lol). However with cell phones she HATES the smartphone- does not like texting or any of the 'extras' on it.
Mom on the other hand- will not go NEAR a computer to use on a regular basis or use email (whereas auntie will). She will only use dad's to do the data entry for the bottle caps (school fundraiser thingie for her grandchildren...). Caught her once playing mah jongg on the old mac though lol. However she can sort of navigate her cellphone- she can text pretty well (slow though but then so am I- stupid virtual keyboard), and it took her some tries but she learned to send pics through the phone lol.

Dad- he's tech savvy but still has a low cost flip phone that only texts (predictive text even!) and calls- can't remember if there is anything else- definitely no camera lol. That's all he wants. All three of them don't really care for the 'bells n whistles' smartphone like their children do lol.
 
My 64 yr old sister is non-techy. She uses a computer at work but doesn't have one at home. One of our brothers bought her a pay as you go cellphone a few years ago. Share rarely uses it but it's nice that she has it in case she needs it. She'll be retiring soon and we've talked about getting her set up with wifi & at least something like an iPod if not a computer. I'm probably the techiest member out of the 6 siblings. Probably because I'm the youngest. :)


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Dog calls 911, saves owner's life - USATODAY.com


I meet a woman who her phone set up this her service dog had to push only one button the as hookup to the phone . The call go right to the police station and the dog does not have to talk. A 911 dispatcher might think a call is prank if no one said anything . Having the phone flagged with the police station is smart way to go . I would call up the police station and fire department business numbers and see if they can call you set up your mother 's phone so she'll not have to talk if can't hear on the phone.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
Dog calls 911, saves owner's life - USATODAY.com


I meet a woman who her phone set up this her service dog had to push only one button the as hookup to the phone . The call go right to the police station and the dog does not have to talk. A 911 dispatcher might think a call is prank if no one said anything . Having the phone flagged with the police station is smart way to go . I would call up the police station and fire department business numbers and see if they can call you set up your mother 's phone so she'll not have to talk if can't hear on the phone.
Click to expand...

They don't ever think it is a prank. They respond no matter what as we found out years ago when they showed up at our house when we didn't realize 911 had been accidentally dialed.
 
Bottesini said:
They don't ever think it is a prank. They respond no matter what as we found out years ago when they showed up at our house when we didn't realize 911 had been accidentally dialed.
Click to expand...


Yep. Our neighborhood watch sends out a quarterly newsletter and always reminds people not to hang up on a 911 call because it will tie up the police resources because they will respond.


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