care lines

What sort of care lines?

Local council care line if you should fall over you press a button and they answer

By "Care Lines", do you mean the personal alarm you wear around your neck or wrist? If so then here's my experience of them.
My Dad was diagnosed with dementia just after Mum died just over two years ago. He was okay for a few months, and then had a series of falls. As he was on his own, we got him an alarm for his wrist. I stayed with him for a few nights, and was woken by a woman's voice asking Dad if he was okay, or did he need help. Dad was still in bed and perfectly safe, he had just pushed the button by accident, and being a bit deaf, didn't respond to the poor woman. I had to speak for him. It was strange, talking to a box on the floor in the middle of the night.
If you don't have dementia, and don't have hearing loss, it is a very good system. They come out pretty quickly, and are thorough when checking for injuries before moving you.
Very good IMO.

Thank you HILDA yes that is what I was talking about. Only since I fell down my stairs and had a terrible job to get up i thought i would look into it i have someone coming out this afternoon, but thought I would like to get some feed back first

Si was the contact for an elderly neighbour. One night she fell in the doorway of her bedroom and unable/ too scared to get up. They rang me, I went over they were speaking to me and her through her phone. They phoned the ambulance and she was put back in bed. Fortunately, other than the scare, unhurt.

They seem an excellent idea. x

Excellent idea, am trying to get very elderly parents to have them....no joy so far!

Thank you no negative ansers thats good

nannotgran

I can't find it but there is a thread on this subject which if I remember correctly did have quite a few posters respond.

My father had osteoporosis and onset dementia. He received marvellous care from Social Services and they installed an emergency call system to 'Lifeline'.

He had occasion to use them 4/5 times and I cannot recommend the service enough.

He had an emergency call button on a cord which he could wear around his neck and also a watch. He contacted them every month to ensure the system was working. He did have 2 occasions where he was unable to communicate via his phone, due to falling, a process is then set in place and an ambulance was sent and we were contacted as the emergency contact, marvellous , so reassuring for both the client and the family.

So in brief, worth every penny. It's one of those things that if you don't use it don't think of it as a waste of money think of it as aid to independent living and care.

Another positive response from me. My mother had one when she still lived in her own home and used it a few times with excellent results.

An elderly neighbour of mine also had one and I was named as first responder. It was a complete waste of money as she would not wear it. She would put it nearby or on her dressing table when in bed and nothing I could say would change her mind. She was convinced it was always in reach should she ever need it. Fortunately she never did. She died of a massive heart attack and was found by the coalman but it could have been so much worse.

As an ex social worker I have to say that the main problem with these alarm buttons is that very often people do not wear them!! I lost count of the number of times I saw my clients return to hospital after a fall and when I asked them why they had not pressed the alarm button on the system I had moved heaven and earth to acquire for them, they would say they were not wearing it at that moment. Sigh.

They work very well indeed if you actually wear the darn thing!

I am not so keen on those systems that have a regular call to check you are OK - a bit pointless really as you could fall over immediately after the call! And we found that people would rush to answer the call and fall over!

Mishap

I agree with your point you have to 'wear the darn thing'.

However the monthly check in with Lifeline was not to ask if the client was OK it was to ensure the system was functioning with no technical hitches, no doubt to conform with their contract agreement. It was also reassuring for my dad and us to know it was all functioning well so I would go in the opposite direction and say it is a good thing. Dad or I made the call so there was no concern of him falling over . Perhaps different systems have different methods.

Lifeline are brilliant!

My Mother had the Lifeline pendant and I can only say that it quite literally saved her life. Immediate response from them when she fell down garden steps at midnight (she was scraping the scraps from her dinner plate for the wildlife - as you do at midnight!!). Without their quick response, she would almost certainly either have bled to death or died from hypothermia. This was not the only time that they responded immediately - and they were very understanding when there were false alarms, ie when she accidentally pressed the alarm.

I agree with Mishap about the morning call! We are dealing with exactly the situations she has described - elderly Aunt answered morning call and fell straight afterwards. She wasn't wearing a pendant and lay on the floor with a broken hip until we raised the alarm after getting no reply to our phone calls.

I think the alarms are often removed when the wearer (non-wearer!) has a shower/bath and doesn't put them back on.

Mishap a friend's mother wasn't found for two days because she wasn't wearing hers! She had a bad fall in her hall. She had just moved into a new house two weeks previously, my friend rang a couple of times and thought she must be out shopping, or gardening. It was only on the following day that she started to worry and went round. Thank goodness she had a key.

We have found Mum's very good and gives a sense of security too. You may want to get the Social Services to install a key safe too so that the Ambulance people can ring and get a key code, get the key and let themselves in. For this reason I would go through SS as, if you do it yourself, (Saga, etc.,) they may not put the key safe in.

If it is for someone with dementia, like all things it becomes less useful as the dementia gets worse, but the hope would be that if you get it early enough the person may remember to use it.

Thank you your feed back was very helpful our local council do a care line and they have been out to me this afternoon and i have decided to go with it so now its all fitted up and ready to go thanks a bunch