Medical Alert Company Donates Services To Fall Victim

Alerg One Medical Alarm

Two weeks after she suffered a fall outside her home and had to wait hours before being rescued by neighborhood children, Margaret McNamara got more good news.

Alert One Services, Inc., has donated its equipment and services to McNamara after company officials read an article in the SunGazette about her plight, according to
Jason Seyler, lifechanging coordinator for Alert One.

"We are donating our service to her for life," Seyler said of the equipment, which includes alert transmitters she can wear and place in strategic locations in her home. "When we hear about a situation like this, where people have fallen, we like to provide them with freedom, independence and security."

The story began April 26, when McNamara went outside her back stoop at about 1:30 a.m. to retrieve their little dog. On her way back in, she said, her knees gave out and she fell, hitting her head on the concrete step and injuring her shoulder. She lay on the stoop with no more than her light bedclothes to protect her from the elements while temperatures dropped into the mid 30s that night. Six hour later, Loyalsock school students Kelsey Springman, Billy and Brice Goodell heard her cries for help and called for emergency crews, comforting her until they arrived.

The Keller Loop resident was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found her body temperature had fallen to about 95 degrees. She was later transferred to Muncy Valley Hospital for physical therapy and rehabilitation. McNamara was there when she learned from Seyler that Alert One, which has an office locally at 425 Market St., wanted to donate its services.

"My knees buckled on me and I fell and I could not get up," McNamara said. "I didn't know what to do. Now all I will have to do is press a button to get help." Seyler said that Alert One has already set up a file in their computer systems detailing her medical conditions and needs in the event she does have to call for help in the future. He said that the alert system the company is donating will prevent a long, cold wait for help from happening for her again.

"When you press that button, our 911 response center will talk to you and ask you if something is wrong," Seyler explained to McNamara. "They will look at your profile and they can call the Loyalsock Fire Department, police, ambulance, whatever you need, in seconds."

Seyler said that according to the Centers for Disease Control, 35 million Americans are over 65 years of age and an average of one in three will suffer a fall each year. "A total of 300,000 are found dead each year," he said of a report compiled by the New England Journal of Medicine, about seniors medical issues. "Some people look at this as being a crutch, but it is a lifesaver."

Seyler said that according to the Journal, 90 percent of fall victims who get help within the first hour are more likely to remain independent and live in their homes. Beyond that first hour, he said, if people don't get help, only about 10 percent are able to return to and remain in their own homes. "They go into assisted living, or they die," Seyler said.

He noted that Central Pennsylvania counties, including Lycoming, Luzerne and Lackawanna, have fast growing senior populations and that Pennsylvania has one of the largest existing populations of senior citizens in the United States.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Pennsylvania had a population of almost 2 million elderly households, the fifth largest senior population in the nation.

The technology that Alert One is donating to McNamara includes a necklace and a wristwatchstyle emergency transmitter, either of which she can wear on her person. Pressing a button on either one of those sends a signal to a main console, which is plugged into an electrical outlet and into the telephone jack. The console sends the call to the company's alert center and is the unit through which their staff can communicate with her.

The console also has a 24hour battery backup that kicks in if the power should out. It automatically recharges again when the power returns. Other, wallmounted transmitters will be placed in strategic places around her home, such as the bathroom, at the bottom of stairs or doorways and can also be pressed in case of an emergency. "They all will cause the console to dial up to one of our six national monitoring centers and a professionally trained operator will open a twoway line to communicate with her," Seyler said.

The transmitter units are 100 percent waterproof and can be worn into the bath, shower, pool or hot tubs, he said. "They have a range of up to 600 feet from the main console, so they cover the house, the yard, the garden or pool, anywhere she may be on her property," he said. At her front door, a small safelike metal box will be placed, called the Vault of Life. It will contain a spare pair of house keys and medical information about her. If she cannot open the door for emergency crews, Alert One can give the crews or police the combination to the safe, helping them get inside more quickly to help her. Only close family members and Alert One operators will have the combination.

McNamara's daughter, Jane Russell, said the alert system is already giving her and the other members of the family peace of mind. "This was very scary," she said. "Something like this happens and it is like your worst nightmare. I was pleasantly surprised by this (donation of services) but I think all of us children would have chipped in to get this for her. We're glad she will have this now."

Russell, who lives in Hughesville, is one of McNamara's four children. The others are Ann Sanders of Farragut, Tom McNamara of Ephrata and David McNamara of New Columbia. Seyler said the service, which includes all the units being donated to McNamara, normally costs $25.95 per month.

"At Alert One, we don't talk about numbers at our meetings, we talk about how many lives we have changed," he said of the 20yearold company. "We focus on how many families we have provided immediate access to help. We focus on testimonies and our praise reports.

The News is provided by http://www.alert-1.com/