we have since set my mom up with one of those systems for when you’ve “fallen and can’t get up” situations. came with various ways to communicate with the alert people: a one button necklace; a wrist watch looking thing; a pager thing; a big round button for the wall or desktop; and a ‘hub’ with the two-way speaker system.
my sister tested it briefly the day it arrived. she tested the pieces some more the other day.
i guess the point of the necklace and/or watch is not only to give you a button to push, should you be unable to reach the hub, they also detect the motion of a fall, in case you hit the floor and are unconscious.
so my sister was testing them by dropping them on the floor. that gets followed up by the alarm people calling the hub, expecting something happening, asking if there is an emergency, disappointed to be told they were only testing the things out.
well, later that evening, i was in whittier, my sister wherever it is she lives. we both separately get automated phone calls stating, “they’d received multiple medical alarms and the authorities have been dispatched…” wtf.
at the same time, my mom is getting the same automated message coming out of the hub, and receiving a call on the house phone, same message. they all give a number to call for more info, but it is already too late to stop the emergency dispatch.
mom hadn’t done anything. was just sitting and reading. so, realizing what was about to happen, she headed to the front door. slowly, mind you, she has trouble getting out of a chair.
she opened the front door just as four big muscley fireboys were running up the sidewalk. first guy waves off the others as she says she’s fine, false alarm. she’s so embarrassed, and explains. they say it happens, and they weren’t busy anyway.
she closes the door. she’s furious. hates the system. gets on the phone with my sister and yells that she wants it returned. apparently, my mom is cursing…which she doesn’t do…so you know she really is mad. she is approaching my level of cussing. i’m texting my sister at the same time, asking wtf, so i’m getting the play by play.
mom calls me a bit later to share the experience, but without the cussing. i would have enjoyed that bit. i wonder if the light on the various bits had flashed red before the message came in. she hadn’t noticed. sister-in-law, who ordered the system, was supposed to call the company to see what happened. i haven’t heard where the breakdown was, if it was the robot noticing the earlier testing calls, or that the human on duty had walked away from the phone bank and the terminator had taken over.
she’s calmed down now. my older brother has talked her into keeping the thing. one caveat though, she won’t wear the necklace or watch. they’re just strategically placed around the house. negates the point of them. better than nothing.
better half bets that i would have enjoyed the beefy firefighters as much as i did that one time they showed up at in-n-out for an older woman with chest pains. hot. except for that one guy. he’d be the one i’d get stuck with to give me resuscitation, undoubtedly.
