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Dont think she can handle switching to smart phone. Thought about installing land line as back up so she's not stranded and maybe one of those life alert deals but afraid she may abuse that for any minor emergency. Was away for a weekend once and she called 911 from her phone as it was the only button that worked, I guess to tell them she was left without food. (Doesn't drive) officer came and checked she did have food in the fridge but not what she was in the mood for. He took her out to brunch!

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Just an opinion, ur Mom is at a stage she should not be left alone. Especially over a weekend. If she can't find her phone, can she take her meds? Calling 911 all the time is not good either. This means she can no longer distinguish between what is an emergency and what is not.

I agree, she needs a landline. A phone that does not plug into an outlet just plugs into a phone jack. One that is not a cordless. I say this because, when the electricity goes out, so does the phone. You need one like the old fashioned phones as close as u can get.
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ineptatthis Apr 2019
Some days she can distinguish and others not, between an emergency or minor deal that is. I am definitely doing a land line in addition to her trac phone that she is used to having close by as back up. We are in this in between stage where they say after quick assessment she is not of the needed care (yet) and would not be approved for assisted living level of care, nor Medicaid to cover it. She has been living with me past few months and with the paranoia over either my teenage son or myself taking her things and the complaints of pets and kids making noise on purpose she thinks, it is not working here. So latest plan is to move her back into a new senior housing until she is ready for assisted living. She almost got kicked out of her last apartment fof stirring up things with a neighbor over her urn in the window. Makes me very nervous to have her on her own again but dont know what else to do. Have set up a PCA to visit her a couple days a week And I will too until winter rolls around again and I cant do the drive. We live in Alaska so we are limited on that account and with resources.
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We're in our early 60s. We have smartphones *and* a landline. Sometimes cell towers fail, and sometimes landlines fail. Since we have both, we're almost never incommunicado (except in the case of extreme power outages).

Also ... we've had the same landline number for over 35 years, and we have relatives who are far older than we are. It's hard on them when people change numbers, so, for the duration, we won't change ours.
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ineptathis, landlines are extremely important for us older folks to have in our home :) How to use one is ingrained in our minds for the last half century and more.

One very important thing to remember that when someone dials 911 from a land-line it automatically gives to the 911 Dispatcher the address of where that landline is connected. Thus, if an elder has a stroke and can get to the phone but cannot speak due to the stroke, the dispatch can send out EMT's to make sure everything is alright.

Cannot do that with the cellphone unless the cell has some type of GPS location and even then it may be hard to pin point property location, especially in an apartment building.

Us older folks grew up with landliens, thus we know when the phone rings, pick up the receiver. With a cellphone, one has to stare at it trying to remember how to do answer this crazy thing :P My boss has a Smart Phone, and honestly I have no idea how to answer it. But then again, he may not know how to answer my flip-phone.

I have a land-line phone in every room of the house. No fear of misplacing those phones, and too big to fall between the sofa cushions :)
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What a guy. That is the best cop story I have heard for a while.

You should let your local media know and get this great cop a big public woohoo.
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I think a landline might be helpful. I got one, well a new one for mom, with large buttons via Amazon. However, she would see last person who called, and think they called recently so she would call back at 1 3 4 in morning. So there are downsides. My mom and phones are whole other topic. 7 cells. Could never figure out one of.
OY.
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