Re: Geezer Tracker

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"wkearney99" <wkearney99@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> > Best of luck.  My Dad is 84 and he's starting to have problems.  The
other
> > day he fell down next to the pool and hurt his knee.  He couldn't get up
> and
> > my mom couldn't hear him.  He was stuck outside in 90+ weather -- pretty
> > scary until she finally heard him.
>
> Yikes, hope that doesn't happen again.  I had a next-door neighbor slip on
> in the kitchen and get stuck for two days.
>
> > There's a
> > wireless button he can carry or wear on his wrist.  If he falls or if he
> > presses the button...
>
> Heh, a testament to the successes and failures of advertising.  I'm sure
> everyone recalls "I've fallen and I can't get up!" but probably doesn't
> remember the vendor making the pitch.
>
> I'd be more inclined to want something more interactive.  Something that
> asked them to periodically tap a button if they're OK.  It'd be tricky
> making it avoid 'nagging' them all the time.  Perhaps a motion or
heartbeat
> sensor that sensed unexpected pattern changes.  Like lying still with a
> suddenly elevated heart rate as an alarm condition, or a gradual increase
> while moving being nothing more than regular activity and not an alarm;
> unless it's outside the expected distance parameters (as in, gone walkies
> without the pants...)
>
> Given how the population's aging these days we'll hopefully see more
devices
> being developed that help deal with problems like these.

There's a lot of stuff out there that does exactly this but lots of it is
terribly pricey.  I've got lots of suggestions and places to look for
pre-existing solutions to the problem.  I wonder if one of the devices that
allows you to hook your cellphone up to your home's phone wiring might not
be the best way to interface the phone to a larger dialing keypad that also
had speed dial numbers.

--
Bobby G.