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Can anyone relate any direct experience of using fall alert type devices with elderly relatives? Something that calls you if they fall over. Obviously I've Googled this, but I'd rather have a recommendation from someone more reliable on which systems are best. A relative of mine fell over again recently, no harm done this time, but they couldn't get themselves up straight away and their partner couldn't hear them calling for help.

Don’t have personal experience with this in your part of the world but as you’ve probably worked out you’re on the nursery slopes of a whole galaxy of systems going under the term of Telecare. Most local authorities operate systems like that by buying in to one of the bigger providers, for a monthly charge (which can often be incorporated into housing benefit if you’re eligible) you get a modem/autodialler which connects with a call centre who have a wee list of responders associated with that individual; and something of a range of interfaces - pendant, wrist button, smoke or heat alarms, and even door alarms - which can set off the autodialler actively or passively.

Might be worth starting with your local social services department to see what’s available in your (relative’s) locality. North Somerset seem to use Carelink (who are national and I believe reputable) while South Somerset use one called Careline.

You can also get similar equipment without the backup, which you program to call a pre-entered phone number, plus spare, to alert a responder directly. The systems approach might be preferable as the call centre will have protocols about getting ambulances, fire service etc in the appropriate circumstances. 
 

As colinakmc said, local social services is probably the best port of call, a lot will depend on your relative's needs.

At the cheapest end of the spectrum, you can get a fob with a button that simply sets off an alarm in the house.  I've just got one of these for my mother - her MS makes her vulnerable to falls, and whislt my dad is pretty much always in the house he didn't hear her calling last time it happened.  No subscription needed, £30 or so. Obviously only a good solution if you know another adult is more or less always within range of the alarm.

Local social services - provided cost free - a button on a lanyard round the neck. Push the button and it goes through to a call centre. They call the home phone line. If no response will call a neighbour. If neighbour not in, will send someone round. Works OK for my aged mother who lives on her own (now that she's recognised you can't plan a fall and need to wear it ALL the time!) 

A wireless doorbell is another possibility.

I designed this product.

https://www.sure24.co.uk/sure-sg210-sureguard-lone-worker-man-down-alarm-bl...

But the wireless doorbell is a very good suggestion.

That might depend on the area. My gran had pull cords in her assisted living flat, she fell and pulled the cord but though the cord reaches the floor the speaker and mike were at head height. 

She could hear the call center but they couldn't hear her. 

They rang me but I was 4 hours away at the time, they refused to ring the emergency services because they could not confirm there was a problem. I ended up ringing a mate of mine who kicked the door in and found her fine but on the floor unable to get up. 

After that I got her a pendent that had a built in mic and put a key box outside of her door, of course she never fell again but at least she was safer. 

Wightcare on the Isle of Wight have a Community Alarm system where they wire up the rooms required, and the relative and the operator can shout at each other without the need for a phone if the relative presses the pendant; they then send around a couple of burly lads in a few minutes to pop the poor relative back into their chair. This was a great service.

The national operators could be ok for someone like your relative with low-level needs. My family's experience with them was that they called 111 and the poor relative had to wait for an ambulance to arrive, which in the worst case could be hours, and then more time for someone with the necessary lifting equipment.

Hopefully the above will help set expectations and give you some questions to ask. Social services or their GP surgery are good starting points, as previously posted. A good local company with the right equipment is worth a lot, in our experience.

Edit: to say, get a Safekey box.

We provide the 'Piper Lifeline'  product here to our customers in conjunction with the local healthcare services and it works well - we've used them for over 23 years.  The original units plugged into a landline, but the newer ones can have a mobile SIM in them for backup.  They dial the local hospital who has a database which allows the operator to say 'Hello Mrs Smith, are you OK?' If they don't get a response then someone's sent out.  The operators get to know their regular 'clients' somewhat.

https://www.lifeline24.co.uk/piper-alarm/

I'm guessing you had strong words with the organisation following that incident!!

The wireless doorbell is a good idea, but is it loud enough? I guess this depends on where the responding adult might be, but if (like my dad) the answer is frequently 'at the far end of the garden' then the doorbell might not be audible. The dedicated siren types are quite a bit louder.

Probably not at all helpful in this instance, as it's expensive and would require an iPhone too but Apple Watch has a 'fall detection' capability. Details below:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208944

That's poor. They know I'm 3.5 hours away.  She's had people come in once, as they had the number for the key safe in the system. It works well now,  and she also has neighbours who are saints. 

The only advice for anyone unsure about if these things are necessary are do it early and test it out. Saves a lot of grief (and maybe a life )

As a cheaper option the mid-range Garmins also have that option, but for home use only the dedicated systems are cheaper and more reliable.

Thanks for that. The social services line of thinking hadn't occurred to me as fortunately I've not had to deal with this sort of thing up to now. So, I checked out the local council site where they live and they do the Careline system. Then I looked at the requirements regarding keyholders, which I can see make sense, but does cause some other issues that would need resolving, like who you would trust with the keys. The system without the back-up might be more suitable as I can get there usually within a reasonable time, but I've not totally ruled out the other option, just need to think a bit more about possible keyholders.

Thanks for all the replies, including the email. All useful.

One way round the key holder issue might be installation of a key safe - door key placed inside, 4 or 6 digit code to unlock. (They’re turning up outside club huts as well nowadays) That way emergency services can get in if it’s part of the individual response protocol, most providers will cope with that.

The OP could also ask neighbours if they'd be willing to look in, and only give the keycode when required. They're easy enough to change after use if security is an issue.

Whichever system you choose, please emphasise to your relative the importance of always keeping it on their person.

A friend of my parents fell in the bathroom getting into the bath and had left the alarm call pendant with her watch in her bedroom when she undressed. She wasn't badly injured but had spent the night on the bathroom floor and was very fortunate to have neighbours who noticed that the curtains weren't opened at the usual time the next morning and rang her family.

I thought this thread might be something to do with climbing. A fall alert could be just what elderly climbers like me could use.

I will do. In fact I've actually used that thought to arrive at a final choice of system -- a bracelet strap type thing rather than something that goes around the neck and will get left on the bedside table. It's a bit pricey but ticks all the boxes. It connects via a base station to the internet and then back to the manufacturers system which then dials whichever numbers you've chosen plus sends an email. It's got a few other useful features as well.

That sounds really good  

This has been a useful thread - I suspect I may need to be organising similar things for my folks in the years to come. 

Yes - this is important. Exactly the same happened to my mother but fortunately she managed to crawl back to a phone after an hour or so. Could have ended very nastily.

Baths are dangerous. If she hasn't got a bath board already, I'd suggest getting one and fitting it. I got one too when I smashed my leg up!

I'd never heard of one of those before, so looked it up. One of the relatives I've mentioned above has difficulties getting in and out. I fitted a handrail to one side, but I'm a bit limited to where I can fit another because of pipes/cables in the wall. One of these might do the job.

Some time ago now but we got my mum a fob to hang round her neck which she could press to activate an alarm via a speaker/mic by the phone. I think it was through Help the Aged (now Age.co.uk  ?). I think they required three neighbours' phone numbers so they wouldn't have to call the alarm services in the first instance.

She fell all the way down the stairs but was able to press the alarm fob and then communicate via the speaker/mic even though it was along the hall and round a corner in the kitchen.

Amazingly she had no breaks but an awful skin flap on shin plus bruises. It was really the start of a long period of health deterioration.

Advice to someone increasingly frail and having to live alone in a house: ensure you can live entirely on ground floor if possible.

This is good advice. My dad installed shower, toilet and small sink in less than 2m x 1m. Cramped but it worked when it was needed.

In terms of automatic fall alarms I have done a lot of research on their efficacy as part of my job. In general I think the technology isn't quite there yet (a notable exception being in the Apple watch). Either the alarms go off all the time or they don't go off when you need them to. If you have the choice, it's better to have a button to make sure the emergency is raised.

For a bit of background, I designed https://www.personalalarmwatch.com

It's a discreet alarm that can get help whether the wearer is at home or out walking, by making a call through the watch. We actually decided to remove fall detection from the watch because it's too unreliable.