Share your experience of personal alarms, or discuss when the time is right for a chance to win £100 NOW CLOSED

My mother-in-law had one when she was living on her own. She often messed with it and inadvertently pressed it. She thought that the people calling her back were very kind - always calling to see if she was ok, not realising that she had generated the call in the first place.

My mother had a personal alarm. She activated it about 3or 4 times when she fell. I thought it was an excellent device. She eventually collapsed and died in her bathroom but she was wearing the personal alarm and if she had the chance I know she would have summoned help. I am reassured by this.

I would have liked to have one of these for my father, he fell, and couldn't get up to phone any one or tell any one. It might have saved his life if he had an alarm.

My 13 year old grand-daughter was mugged on a train station last week
while waiting for her mum to collect her. The transport police have now sent her a personal alarm which I think is a good idea. But, of course, she is now so scared that she says she will never go on a train again.

Meanwhile, me being 78 and living alone in the countryside, I wonder if I should get one, especially in view of my dodgy legs these days.
But I do always have my mobile phone with me, so maybe not.
How much are they anyway?

Where's your sense of humour, POGS?

My brother managed to persuade my mother, in her nineties and in the early stages of dementia, to get one of these after she fell out of bed and spent all night on the floor. My even older aunt, who lived with her, said she would have one too as the extra pendant didn't cost much extra. In the event my mother would not wear it - my aunt used hers to call for assistance when my mother fell but this would have been no good at night!

These will probably not be necessary for the next generation as we are used to having mobiles - though learning to carry them all the time like youngsters will be a stretch (mine sits in the kitchen when I'm at home).

My Mother-in-law had an alarm which was the necklace type. There were probably more plus points than minus points. When the alarm was activated, sometimes accidentally, someone from alarm hq would phone her and it would be on speakerphone so she could hear and reply without actually picking up the phone. Unfortunately, if she didn't have her hearing aid in, she would often not hear the speakerphone. If she did not answer, they would phone us or one of the other contacts.Then we would visit to assist.
After she died and I had sent the alarm back exactly as requested, they continued to bill us which was rather upsetting as we had to keep contacting them to explain the situation.

No it isn't.

I have a very Monty Pythonesque picture in my head now, roses, of all these old people falling over like skittles, occasionally getting back up, only to fall over again.
Sorry, I know it's no laughing matter.

We have several elderly neighbours who almost regularly fall or trip in the house and garden.One in particular had a fall in the garden and had left her personal alarm in the bedroom.She lay in the garden for over six hours before anyone heard her calling out, and it could have been the next day if the neighbour hadn't gone out to her bins and heard her.So, they are a great thing to have, but must be carried on you and not just left somewhere in the house!

I have only just decided to post on this thread as my experience of personal alarms requires discussing my father and the time of his subsequent death and whilst I have posted about the use of personal alarms before on GN the thought of winning money for posting did not sit happily with me. However I am such a huge fan of personal alarms I have decided to post but in the remote chance of winning the £100 I would ask it be donated to charity.

My father had the dreaded family curse of osteoporosis, both my parents and many of my family. Dad eventually developed onset dimentia and heart problems. He was 94 when he died of scepticaemia after having a pace maker fitted.

Dad kept falling over and the Social Services 'quickly' responded by putting a personal alarm system in his home. He could either wear the fob around his neck or a very natty watch and he was very happy with either. He found the peace of mind knowing there was help in an emergency an emense pleasure.

Over the period of 2 years he must have used the emergency call approximately 9 times. Usually because he had fallen but twice because of his heart and the latter because he had infact suffered major cardiac arrest. The best thing about the personal alarms is the fact you can be out of hearing distance of the phone line and the emergency services are called to attend without the need for dialogue , it just simply does what it says on the tin so to speak.

I cannot express enough how having the personal alarm system in my fathers home gave both him and myself peace of mind. It allowed dad to keep his independence, very important, and the opportunity to continue living in his own home during his last years and to this day I know that having used his personal alarm on the night of his severe heart attack it literally SAVED HIS LIFE.

I'm not quite at the point of needing one yet, but my elderly neighbour who I keep an eye on got one after having a heart attack. I'm so thankful she did because she had another attack just before Christmas and managed to activate her alarm so my husband and I got to her asap and could get an ambulance - without it I probably wouldn't have known until the next day as it was evening.
My only worry with them is if the person is forgetful and doesn't remember to activate it, or presses it often forgetting what it is but I don't see a way around this, they will work for some and not others like everything in.life

Our new double glazing installations came with alarm fitted front/back doors. Unfortunately, they kept going off since many people used the doors who could not remember the number combination to deactivate the alarm. After constantly bringing out half the street to the front of out house wondering if there was a break-in, it was best to permanently disable the alarm.
We do have smoke alarms which we receive at the end of last year - do have get round to fitting them one!!!!

My mother-in-law had one of these and it was a brill service that was invaluable in helping her stay independent in her own home. It was used in a number of fall incidents and worked well (except on very rare occasions when batteries began to run a little low and the dongle needed to be resynced with the base station).
Unfortunately, as time went by she developed dementia and would press it just for someone to talk to, and no amount of insisting she didn't was successful, resulting in numerous somewhat justified disconnection threats!
I often felt sorry for that lovely button brimming with technology, as it would occasionally get a dunking in whatever was on the menu that day, soup being the worst!
A wonderful service that the family was exceedingly grateful for.

an elderly relative now has a personal alarm after falling and not being able to get up. it means a family member doesn't have to supervise her 24hrs as we know someone will be with her very quickly if she needed help and the neighbours get a call also when the alarm goes off so always someone close by. she is now in a home due to her dementia and health getting worse but an alarm is great for keeping a bit of independence as you get older. once you start feeling a bit wobbly on your feet then it's a vital item

My Mother has got and uses an alarm.When she was ill in the night she used it,they rang for an ambulance and then called the first person on her contact list. She has got a key box outside her door which the alarm controller had and gave to the ambulance crew.
Wh she has on a couple of occasions pressed it by mistake they don't mind.I think they great.

I am laughing so hard at your post about the dog, Chichachongawonga! Thank you.

I don't have experience of alarms yet (or a dog!) but the feeling I get from the previous posts is that we need more types of alarms, and for them to be more available. This doesn't seem like a one-size-fits-all issue, as users' needs, preferences and abilities can vary so widely. I hope that more R&D will reflect this, and that new options will become possible.

Still smiling tho...

My mother had a personal alarm which she insisted on wearing when shopping in a town several miles from home. Luckily she never had to test it! The fact Mum had one of these helped with peace of mind for the family when she was alone and I would recommend their use.

I will definately be using one of these when the time is right as the comfort and security of knowing help is easy to reach is beyond compare to me, especially coming form a family with history of strokes and heart attacks. I understand they are not everyone's choice though. We finally persuaded my Mother-in-Law to have one fitted only to find she 'lost' it twice and it could not be found anywhere. As she is unable to leave the house unattended this was a mystery until she admitted she hated having on her person, thought if it was on a table etc she may not be able to reach it in emergency so she had a bright idea......she attached it to the dogs collar so she could call the dog to bring it to her but twice it had jumped the garden fence, had a trot around the neighbours garden's and come back without it!!

I have suffered a number of falls and I have had a call care pendant for a number of years. Fortunately I don't live alone, my wife is my carer and will call an ambulance, advice them on the special equipment they need to bring with them to lift me off the floor. Wife is on the list of people to call when I am alone and I fall or need urgent help, she has a mobile, but no car, so she would have to get a taxi home.

I am lucky to have a friend who lives nearby, he is my key-holder, he has
a mobile phone and a car but he does go on holiday quite often . So although the pendant is supposed to help me live independently I am still reliant on other people.

That really is an excellent scheme and very good value, its a lot less than I pay Social Services for my call care pendant.

I would like to try an alarm - my sister was recently mugged in a rural village. It has made me nervous (especially on pension day). It would have to be an alarm that was easy to reach quickly, ie around the neck, and that I could be reassured that someone would actually come to help. So many folk these days ingore a call for help anyway for fear of getting involved and hurt.

i'm trying to get my mum to use one of these (and to stop driving) but she just won't.

she's very doddery and has already fallen over a couple of times. she lives alone and i worry about her.

not sure what i can do to persuade her!

My only experience of the alarm is with a close family member, I think they are a great idea but because she had dimensia she refused to wear it because it was unfamiliar. In the end we opted for a sensor alarm system that meant that help could be called with her needing to active it. However I think they give security to older people who live on their own that they can get help and can help them to love independantly for longer.