First, Life Alert became a long-standing joke with its “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercials. Then it was widely and justifiably condemned for a truly creepy, horrible commercial. Now, finally, they’ve partially redeemed themselves with this commercial. It’s not great, but it’s a whole lot closer to the sort of thing they ought to be doing.
Inspired by your last post, I decided to search the field of products like Life Alert. I found there is a surprising amount of competition in this field. The subscription prices, the services and the range of device types vary considerably. It’s an important product for many.
Because I live alone, I’ve already decided one of these things is probably in my future. I haven’t researched the options yet, but I can’t think of any better way to fill the need than a waterproof, wearable 24/7 device. I’ve already gotten to the point where I like to have a phone nearby most of the time, and find it very reassuring that my son calls me almost every day while driving to and from work.
I trust your son uses a hands free mobile/cell phone PT, he wouldn’t be much use if he had an accident whilst driving and yakking away on one of those monstrous things stuck to his ear. :roll:; I’ve just finished reading some statistics of mobile phone related accidents here in Australia that’s why I’m sounding gloomy !
I suppose we have those gadgets/ thingys here I’ve never thought about it but I suppose I should for the sake of my dog, I’d hate to have a fall while we’re alone together and not being able to get up, he’d be most distressed I know.
Oh yes, he uses Bluetooth and usually has one of those little thingys stuck in his ear. I argued with him for quite a while that even that was a distraction but he countered that it was less distracting than if I were sitting next to him talking. I had no answer for that. He always stops talking when he has a sticky traffic situation to focus on.
I hadn’t thought about my pets. They could fend for themselves for a couple of days but my dog would be very upset by anything abnormal in my behavior or routine.
Because I have a service dog, I carry a medi-card telling paramedics (and others) what to do about the dog. Naturally I have arrangements with more than one family member to care for my friend in case something happens to me. But still I worry. He’s spent his whole life with me by his side 24/7. It would be quite a shock for him to be re-homed at his age.
That’s a great idea, even for non-service dogs. People focused on human emergencies, especially if they don’t have pets of their own, are likely to overlook the needs of our devoted animal companions.
Of course any distraction can cause an accident, but when reading statistics, bear in mind that numbers DO lie. When they first started the whole “cell phone use causes accidents” program here in the US, the first statistics were gathered by connecting cell phone use up to 10 minutes before and 30 minutes after an accident. Given that if you have an accident, one of the first things you’re going to do is call someone on your cell phone, you can imagine how impressively high those numbers were.
Or, as Mark Twain is supposed to have said, “There’s lies, damn lies, and then there’s statistics…”
I tend to rely as much on common sense as on statistics. Drivers are either attentive and responsible, or they aren’t. Cell phones are just one of many things that can distract a driver.
We’ve gone so far as carrying a cheap “dumb” phone on auto trips and having land-line phones placed in strategic locations around our home. However, something like Life Alert may be in the near future. Good to see they are using more dignified ads.
You’ve mentioned the main reason I haven’t dropped my land line — I have extensions located throughout the house. In the car I like that a smartphone’s GPS capabilities keep my family informed of my location, even if I don’t make a call.