We had a call her a few months ago from an assisted living facility in New York. Apparently one of the residents who has Alzheimer’s climbed out of their window, in their pajamas, and walked to a local train station, and boarded the train. The person was taking the train to New York City where they used to live. Fortunately someone noticed their appearance and condition on the train and called the police. These stories don’t always end this well. There have been cases where people have walked out into traffic, frozen to death, or wandered never to be seen again. People with Alzheimer’s and dementia walk into areas and are disoriented, scared, and don’t know what to do. As caregivers, this is a stress you face every single day. Many Alzheimer’ patients function well day to day but you never know when they may wander about. It is unpredictable.
Security2020 offers several products to help caregivers monitor the movement of their loved ones and patients to help prevent this wandering affect. Entrance and Exit alerts are such products. In summary, these are products that will sound an alert, chime, or alarm sound when a door or window is opened, this alerting the caregiver. A vast majority of these products do a great job of alerting a caregiver if that caregiver is on premise. However, most Americans do not have the financial means to provide 24/7 care for their loved ones, whether it is in an assisted living program or an onsite caregiver. If the caregiver is not there at night, how would you know if the alert is triggered? What do you do during the day if you have to work and cannot be there to watch your loved one 24/7?
There are cost-effective, do-it-yourself type of products we would like to highlight today. You can purchase these products and install them yourself to give you immediate peace of mind. The product we are highlighting is called the ED-100. This product, without any additional accessories consists of two products packaged together as a kit. The primary, and most important aspect of the product is the Auto Dialer which is included in the kit. The auto dialer, when triggered, will dial programmed phone numbers and play a recorded messages. The auto dialer plugs into a standard wall outlet and included a backup 9-volt battery, and also included a phone cord you would plug into a home phone jack. Available sensors to trigger the auto dialer are available (not included in ED-100) to monitor when doors or windows open, when movement is detected, or just about any other events you want to monitor. All of these products are wireless which means installation is simple and requires not wiring.
The ED-100 also included a wireless key chain panic transmitter. The simple push of a button will trigger the auto dialer to dial programmed numbers. If your loved one falls or feels like they need assistance, they can press the button on the key chain the auto dialer will dial the programmed numbers. As available add-on products, there are window and door sensors and motion sensors available. They are wireless and easy to install. The window door sensors have magnetic contacts and when separated, trigger the auto dialer. Place them on exterior doors and windows so you will get a call if they are opened. You can arm and disarm the auto dialer to make sure you are not getting calls when the caregiver is there. You can also turn off the sound so your loved one won’t hear the dialer calling you and get scared by the noise.
This is a great product I would invite you to take a look at. We are highlighting the unit for the application of monitoring a loved one but the product can also serve as a safety and security device as well. In the next blog, I will highlight the MS-2001 which take the auto dialer to the next level. This product enables two-way communication so that you can listen in or talk to the person after the auto dialer calls you.
