Would prefer a watch rather than pendant that summons help. Thanks in advance. I believe Vtail had some suggestions.

If you have an iPhone, the Apple Watch would do you well.

I agree on the Apple watch. My college room mate was camping in the woods with his wife and friends a couple years ago, miles from anything, had a heart episode that knocked him out. His Apple watch called paramedics who got to him in about 10 minutes, and consequently six of us bought Apple phones just so we could use the technology.

Agree on the Apple watch if you have an iPhone. I stumbled about a year ago and went to my knees, caught myself with my hands when I went down. Had to press the button on my Apple Watch to cancel, it was beeping to let me know it was about to call Emergency folks. Worked as advertised.
BTW, got the watch working again to make calls independently so I am good again.

Apple introduced Fall Detection with the Series 4 Watch.

Apple Watch, and I'd get the Cellular version, that way you have contact in case your phone is out of range from the watch and something happens.

You can get a good deal on Woot.com, which is a division of Amazon, also Costco has good pricing on newer models.

You'd have to sign up for notifications on Woot for the next Apple device sale, and jump on it quickly.

Costco, it's everyday.

My Samsung Galaxy 3 watch has that feature if you are in the Android universe.

If I wore my Apple watch all the time or could remember to carry my iPhone with me, I wouldn't worry about falls (as much).

But, in June, I was getting out of the pool and decided to take a header face down into the pavers-no watch, no phone. Everyone from my Nurse Practitioner wife to the great VA ER doc thought at least my nose was broken if not more, but God is good and all I had was a rearranged nose (it now bows to the left instead of the right as it did for 70 some years) and two black eyes.

The VA had given me two brand new pendants (the second after the first quit), but it, too, quit working so I invested in one of the "Help I've fallen and I can't get up," models.

I can shower, swim and everything else I like to do while wearing it and the device works. The charger lives by my bed so I stick it in to charge every night, and, so far, I remember to put it on when I get up.

I've dropped it twice now, and they are on me almost immediately making sure I am okay. I feel pretty confident with it, though I'd rather not need to summon help.

My wife is headed up to PA in the morning to meet a friend and watch Penn State play on Saturday, so we'll see if I can get along a few days without messing something up.

I agree with the premise that the watch or phone is more convenient, but I can't seem to keep them with me all the time-but I can the pendant.

Bob

I was wearing my apple watch working in the yard when I inadvertently picked up a planter that was covered with thousands of ants. Instead of waiting to see if they were fire ants (they weren't), I immediately started flailing around like an idiot, frantically knocking them off. I'm really glad no one was watching. But my apple watch wanted to call paramedics because it knew something was wrong/thought I fell. Thankfully I was able to cancel the call before it happened.

I think the apple watch is a good idea as we get older.

Apple Watch. Worked for my wife just the other day.

quote:

I can shower, swim and everything else I like to do while wearing it and the device works. The charger lives by my bed so I stick it in to charge every night, and, so far, I remember to put it on when I get up

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There are several models noted on the webpage. What do you suggest? Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

There are several models noted on the webpage. What do you suggest? Thanks

I suggest that you check the monitoring fees. Last time I looked, the monitoring service could exceed thousand bucks / year for the "Help, I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up" pendant.

The Apple Watch does not have a fee for its Fall Detection services. It does need to be paired with an iPhone, but you can find iPhone service plans pretty cheap if you stay away from the big names (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) and go with one of their MVNO re-sellers.

Thanks Vtail.

Brain in a fog..............read the title and went to "where to find the best fall colors"............

I don't know that I saw a choice of models, but complete, out the door, including the pendant, magnetic closure cord, and one year of coverage was a bit over $700.00 from the company I chose-Medical Guardian. I picked them 'cause they've been around a long time and the reviews seemed good.

If I am still around in a year, it'll renew at less than that (forgot how much, but it wasn't offensive) and I'm good for another year. Or I can do it monthly but I don't like to bother with that, so a yearly renewal works for me.

If I'm gone, then my wife can use it and the remaining time and renew it IF she wants to do so. Sadly, I won't be here to be involved in her decision making on that issue.

As I said earlier, I've dropped it twice and immediately they were ready to send help.

You also get a hefty combo locking device for the front door with a 4 digit combination that contains a key so help can get in without breaking open the door or window similar to those used by realtors. Put a spare key in, hook it on, spin the numbers on the lock and forget it. Cops, paramedics, fire fighters-they are given the combination when dispatched and can open the lock, use the key and, hopefully, won't find me naked and flopping around on the floor when they enter.

Seems to me, the issues to consider are:

1. Do I need one of those devices?

2. Which one will I have with me ALL the time.

3. Sellers reputation and device durability.

5. Overall cost.

Bob

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Thank you for taking the time to craft a detailed response.

I know several people with Apple watches and have heard no complaints. It seems to be best known smart watch on the market and has a great reputation for innovation. In fact, all of my medical discharge notes (from the docs) refer to the ECG's I send in as coming from an 'Apple' watch.

I, however, don't have an iPhone (or other Apple devices) so I ended up buying a Garmin Venu 3 that's compatible with my Samsung phone. Samsung also makes a smartwatch but I decided on the garmin based on my satisfaction with other Garmin devices. The biggest selling point for me was battery life. Depending on how many features I use, and for how long, I regularly get 8-10 days of battery life.