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We signed Mom up for Medical Guardian, specifically for the fall detection. She has fallen five or six times without it alerting, and alerted one time when she hadn't fallen. I'm in contact with customer service, but has anyone else had this issues, specifically with this company?


Can you recommend another service that worked well for you or your LO?

My mom wanted to get out of bed several times at night to go to the bathroom. As she became more frail falls became a real concern. Even with a bedside commode, her risk for falling was not alleviated. I found a pressure sensitive alarm pad from Smart Caregivers worked well to alert me or my mom’s caregiver when my mom wanted to get out of bed therefore preventing her from a bad fall.
They are availed directly from the company or from Amazon.
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Reply to Laura72Long
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What type of device does she have? The fall detection is always more accurate when worn around the neck outside of clothing as its based on body positioning, but in general all companies will recommend pressing the button whenever you are able and try to reduce the number of false alarms and over sensitivity to avoid it being an experience that deters people from wearing the protection, but sometimes you can see if a company can bump up the sensitivity levels for someone who is having more frequent falls.
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Reply to smeeshk
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Ok, for everyone saying she can't live alone, she DOESN'T live alone, she lives with my and my family. However, if she falls outside, or in her bedroom, we don't always know it immediately. That's why she has the Medical Guardian with fall detection. Ita that she needs to be in a care facility instead of here, but in our state, she won't qualify for Medicaid until she requires nursing home level care. She's not there yet.
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Patathome01 Jul 14, 2025
What state does your mother live in? Your mother can never be left unsupervised for a second again for her safety. Someone Has to be with her.

Go to an elder attorney and a social worker for assistance. If she has no money, is or unable to get Medicaid assistance, seeking local aging council should help. That’s ridiculous that a facility won’t help her. It’s the screwy government who won’t pay. Until she is nearly dead??
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I’m sorry about your mother’s situation. She requires either in the home care or an assisted living facility.
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Stardust Jul 14, 2025
Yes, it is screwy!! :( That's just how it is here in our state though, with Medicaid. She's living in our home and I would much rather outside people not come in until it's reached the point that I can no longer manage to care for her. The other thing is that we live in a county where the local council on aging is pretty useless. The last time I called the guy who answered the phone said that they were trying to fill the position and he didn't know much about what the "council" provided. Some council! :(
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I don't think Life Alert is worth it and they stick you in 3 year monthly contract at $95 that you cannot cancel unless your loved one has 24 hour care or dies
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Reply to WordsofWisdom
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Stardust: She requires residence in a managed care facility.
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Stardust Jul 16, 2025
I agree... however, LTC doesn't. :( We're trying again to get her qualified for Medicaid, but I seriously doubt she'll get in. She doesn't yet require a nursing home level of care.
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My 95 yo mom has a device from Bay Alarm. It works great, Great customer service, and caring people on the phone when calling. I've been very happy with the.
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Stardust Jul 13, 2025
Thank you!
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my dad has a dedicated BAY ALARM smartwatch, in that it does fall detection [ slight additional fee, so worth it ] and tells time. also counts his steps, which i cannot make him care about.

anyhow, it and they work.
when he falls, they call him on the watch. even if he answers and is ok, they check back in a few minutes later thru his phone.

fallback is calling mine, and because i’m Deaf and relay is bleh, we decided that i just put their number in my phone and if they call, i know.

they call quickly, they seem concerned, they have called each time. the watch went off once when he just threw it onto his bed, but he got to the oops button before they called.

it was easy to set up, costs $55 a month, and i feel MUCH more confident that he is ok. at 93 he’s fragile, but he’d managed to wander and then fall several times without his phone.
once he fell and fractured his femur and did the army crawl but didn’t make it to his phone. my cats told me something was wrong. [ not the dog i’d been relying on, the cats ]

that was when i decided to tell his dr he needed ….something. as dad had a friend with a life alert buton who fell down, got stuck for 3 days and FORGOT she had the button, a neighbor rescued her. i knew that was not for us. doctor agreed, and watch and fall detection it is.

it’s far simpler than most smart watches, and he doesn’t actually use it for anything else but telling time [ o look, pretty watch face! ] it charges in a simple dock.

worth it.
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Stardust Jul 13, 2025
Thank you! Yes, my mom wouldn't remember the button either. :(
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I am afraid your mom is beyond the point where she will be safe with such a device. Consider exploring a move to care in facility or in home now.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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A button on a necklace or whatever is not going to stop a brain bleed. These fall alerts aren't going to lift your love one off the floor. Or take your loved one out of their burning house. It is a rip off.
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Hothouseflower Jul 13, 2025
It’s one of those measures you put in place when your parents refuse to acknowledge they cannot live alone anymore and just want to be in denial about it all. It doesn’t solve the problem. Just bought us a little peace of mind while we were waiting for THE CALL, the one that changes everything and forces decisions to be made.

The fall alert proved useful for us. My mother used it when she fell and needed help. My sister got there right away and so did EMS.
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I agree with Fawnby... I don't think there's any safe way to monitor her while she's alone anymore, and nothing that she will be able to adapt to.

Please call 2-1-1 to get connected to resources and options for her care (and how to finance it). Also contact her local area's Agency on Aging or social services for her county.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Apple Smartwatch coupled with iPhone. But if your mom isn’t able to operate these, don’t waste your money.

It may be time for her to go to assisted living where she has 24/7 monitoring and assistance.
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Stardust Jul 8, 2025
Ok, no she isn't able to afford or even comprehend a cell phone now. :/

She's living with me and as much as I would love for her to be anywhere else on this planet, wheels are turning slowly to get her in LTC.
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