“Your system has been a lifesaver for us. My sister gets two check-in calls each day. If she doesn’t answer, or requests help, we can respond with either a visit to her house or with a telephone call. With this service we are never in doubt about her status. This system works because we are 
alerted even though she may be totally incapacitated and unable to respond. It is foolproof and gives us an incredible sense of security. It has worked for us time and time again.”
~ George S, – Virginia
George S. has been a subscriber to our Personal Telecare Service since 2004. In no uncertain terms his unsolicited testimonial describes the value of the Sentry Telecare daily check in service. The value resides in the fact that the service is PROACTIVE. It can be scheduled to call one, two, or three times each day to determine the status of the person receiving the call. Whether that person is absolutely fine, conscious but not able to move, disoriented, or unconscious the status of the check-in call recipient will be determined and as necessary, action will be taken. Click here to see how Telecare works.
Living Alone is a Risky Business
We have all heard of situations that resulted in a person being found in perilous circumstances: such as, having slipped and becoming wedged and immobile between the toilet and the bathtub; or stumbling in the kitchen and being unable to move after becoming stuck between two appliances with their arms pinned. You do not have to wait for a chance visit to save you as was the case in these two examples. A Sentry Telecare scheduled check-in call, if unanswered, would have triggered a telephone call to a designated contact person and alerted them to a potential problem. The following is an excerpt from an abstract of an article published a few years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Persons Found In Their Homes Helpless Or Dead – From ABSTRACT
R. Jan Gurley, M.D., Nancy Lum, M.S., Merle Sande, M.D., Bernard Lo, M.D., and Mitchell H. Katz, M.D.Background
Health care providers and providers of emergency services are sometimes called to help with people who are found alone in their homes either helpless or dead. It is not known who is at risk for being found helpless or dead, what the mortality rates are among those found alive, or how frequently this situation occurs.
Methods
We conducted a population-based study of patients who were found in their homes either helpless or dead. Over 12 weeks, paramedics employed by the city of San Francisco identified 387 such events involving 367 persons. We obtained information on these patients from the emergency-medical-services department or the hospitals to which they were taken and determined their outcomes.
Conclusions
For elderly people who live alone, becoming incapacitated and unable to get help is a common event, which usually marks the end of their ability to live independently. …possibilities for intervention include electronic telephone checks…
Source Information From the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of California, San Francisco (R.J.G., B.L.); the Department of Public Health, City and County of San Francisco (R.J.G., M.H.K.); the Joint Medical School Program, University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley (N.L.); and the Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco (M.S.). Address reprint requests to Dr. Gurley at the Department of Public Health, AIDS Office, Suite 500, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102.Conclusion
As pointed out in the full article referenced above: the first 24 hours are critical. Seniors who are found during that period will likely recover and be able to return to their home. For longer periods with no intervention, there is an increasing chance that the person will not be able to resume their earlier independent way of life.
Proactive daily telephone check-in service can mitigate the potential problem!
