A medical alarm's main purpose is to protect you from a serious medical condition, which can affect you at anytime. These devices come in many forms. Some are like chain bracelets, which notify those around you that you have a threatening affliction. A person that goes into shock whenever bitten by a bee, wasp or hornet would be a candidate. Others wear them when they have an extreme allergy to peanut butter; who knows you could get your fish and chips fried in peanut oil and not be aware of it. Certain individuals wear these disk shaped tags like a necklace as well as a unique charm on a bracelet. This method of an alarm is quite simple in that it has no working parts. It depends solely on the fact that somebody in a crowd of people will notice that you've collapsed from a heart attack, bee sting, a near fatal dose of peanut butter or a drop in your blood sugar level. These disks usually have your family doctor's telephone number to call and the emergency ambulance number also if there is an emergency crisis. These are very low-end devices with no electronics, buzzers or telecommunications. They used to cost below $10.00 for just the personalized engraving and the specific medical alert. The specialized phone numbers and personalized name were either engraved at the drug store or sent away for that work. This is the "trust" method, which is questionable as an effective medical alarm system. There are systems that are more effective for a price.
If you have a medical condition and live alone other kinds of personal medical alarms are available. These are a combination of telephone monitor, a pendant and wrist watch communication device. These medical alert alarms are usually available at a nominal fee or for lease with the service that is sold. These American medical alarms are leased as a monthly service for around $29.95 to $39.95. These services check on the client's health on a periodic or even hourly basis. They can directly communicate with the client to remind them when medicine is required. The monitor is plugged into the telephone jack of the wired house system where it establishes communication with the health service that is in contract with the client. The pendant or the wristwatch is a small transceiver or micro-telephone, which operates on extremely low radio frequency. The customer always wears one of these within range of the monitor. If he or she has an emergency, all they have to do is press either the pendant or the wristwatch; and an emergency signal is passed to the monitor. The telephone circuit calls the health watch service who attempts to contact the patron. Even though the medical service cannot hear outside the house, it can detect the alarm jewelry outside. In an emergency, the service contacts 911 and gives them all the pertinent information necessary to respond.
As you know, the world is growing away from traditional wire based telephones. Everyone is becoming cell based in communications. How does this affect medical alarm systems and services for those with medical conditions dependent on cellular phones? Cellular based technology exists for medical alarms, same as wire-based systems. They are smaller, reliable and somewhat more expensive. The service is approximately the same in price.
Available personal medical alarms are a combination of telephone monitor, a pendant and wrist watch communication device