What If They Can’t Hear Me? Medical Alert Service Protocols

One of the most common questions that callers ask us is “What if I’m too far away from the medical alert unit and the emergency dispatchers can’t hear me?”

Our emergency pendants were designed to be worn 24/7 for use within the home. Many callers ask us if there are built-in microphones inside the emergency pendants. No, our emergency pendants don’t have built-in microphones inside them because we don’t want our customers to have to take them off to charge them.

We’re firm believers that the medical alert buttons should be worn at all times.

Furthermore, not having a microphone inside the pendant enables it to be 100% waterproof. This way, our customers can be protected while bathing as numerous studies have shown that the bathroom is one of the most common places for falls to occur.

So what happens when you are, say, in the shower or in a room far away from the base unit and you’ve pressed your emergency button?

First, our emergency dispatchers will try speaking to you through the 2-way speaker on the base unit. If they can’t hear you, or they don’t get a response, they will try reaching you on the home phone.

If there’s still no response received after they’ve tried your home phone number, they will assume that since a signal went out from your emergency pendant, it must be an emergency. Help will be dispatched to the home immediately.

Depending on your personal preferences, we will go down a list of emergency contacts you’ve provided to us and dispatch the local emergency services. You can read more about how this process works here.

This exact scenario happened to one of our customers a few months back. She was in the kitchen one morning toasting English Muffins, when her toaster suddenly caught fire and before she knew it her kitchen was engulfed in flames.

The dispatcher was not able to hear her when he tried to speak to her through the base unit, so he assumed she was in trouble and sent help.

Long story short, if she hadn’t had a medical alert system she might not still be with us today.

You can rest assured that if you are in trouble and you press your button, we will get you help. Whether you would like us to call your nearby relatives, friends, or neighbors first, or go straight to the local emergency services, we’ve got you covered. We are the experts on medical alert systems and medical alert watches.