Traitional Medical Alert Systems; A List of Products and Product Reviews
Click Through To Read Each Product Review And To Add Your Thoughts
The BrickHouse Medical Alert System: The BrickHouse Medical Alert System offers fall detection in an easy to use pendant form factor.
The Connect America Medical Alert System: The Connect America Medical Alert System is yet another traditional in-home medical alert system. They’ve been in business since 1977 and boast of 100,000 users of their medical alert products.
The Alert1 Medical Alert System: The Alert1 Medical Alert System is a good option for a traditional in-home medical alert system. 20 years of experience and 150,000 customers to date.
The LifeGuardian Medical Alarm System: Today you can choose from a traditional pendant style in-home panic buttons or a new GPS enabled cellular phone with fall detection technology.
The ResponseLINK Medical Alert System: The ResponseLINK Medical Alert System offers traditional push button medical alert technology with the popular pendant alert button form factor.
The Philips Lifeline Medical Alert System: The backing of a highly established (well branded) company behind the product makes it a “comfortable choice” for families that want to know who’s behind the product.
The Wellcore Personal Emergency Response System: The Wellcore Personal Emergency Response System stormed onto the market in early 2010 with a great deal of enthusiasm , and then disappeared mysteriously from the market just as abruptly as it appeared. (Note: This item has been discontinued.)
The myHalo Personal Emergency Response System: myHalo Personal Emergency Response System offers a fall detection device with a different (wearable) form factor, and an optional vitals monitoring package.
The Freedom Alert2 Medical Alert Phone: The Freedom Alert II acts as a mini cordless phone, enabling the user to answer the phone and speak directly through the speaker phone on the pendant.
The MobileHelp Medical Alert System: A more mobile medical alert system offering onboard gps, and a connection anywhere there is a cellular signal (available on AT&T).
The VRI Medical Alert System: The VRI Medical Alert System is a traditional in-home medical alert system with the smallest pendant style emergency button available. This medical alert system is also tested and compatible with VOIP (voice over internet protocol) telephone systems for user peace of mind.
If you haven’t read it already, we recommend you read The Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Medical Alert System
About Amie
I am looking for an alert device that my mother can wear for short periods of time, up to two hours, when a caregiver is not in the house. What is an easy to use/wear device that connects with 911 if that is what the connection is for and also she is prone to falling and walks with a walker. Thank you.
Hi Patty! If your mother stays in the home, any of the traditional pendant devices should do the trick. You could go with Philips, VRI or MobileHelp for that. Look through this site at the various reviews, prices and contracts of these medical alert system providers though. Watch out for long-term contracts that lock you in (longer than you’re comfortable doing).
If your mother is looking for a mobile or cellular based medical alert device, we recommend the MobileHelp and the 5Star from GreatCall. We want to see some of the other providers get their acts together before we recommend them…
Mom needs needs med alert system in home especially shower and around home with pre-programmed list of contacts.
Is it better to have 2 way voice pendant over other button only?
I don’t understand how the latter works. If voice pendant better, which system
Is best for the price? Thanks
Hi Susan, thanks for the great question.
IF your mom plans on wearing the device in the shower, (and she only needs it around the home) a number of the pendant style medical alert devices will work fine. Click here to play with a nice medical alert comparison tool that the folks at VRI put together. We like a number of the traditional players including VRI, Philips, and MobileHelp. In fact if you wanted both the pendant option and the 2 way speaker phone, I believe MobileHelp has an option for that. You can find info on MobileHelp options here.
If your mom needs a mobile (cellular based) alert system, we like the 5Star from GreatCall and the MobileHelp products.
I hope that helps!
I am struggling to find the right system for my mother as well. After a nightmare scenario with LifeStation (their own literature prohibited the use of a line splitter, but then gave us a huge hassle about cancelling; they got 2 months service charges from her even though we never even activated it!)
I am now wrestling with whether to trust the next one. In reading all the fine print, they basically disavow any responsibility associated with the unit, the service, their own response, etc. The company is MobileHelp which seems to have gained favorable reviews here, but that seems more about the equipment. Do you have any information on their service? Do all these type of companies have long protracted, hard to read, hard to follow, double talk type contracts? I am grateful for any help anyone can give me regarding these issues! Thanks!
Hi Maureen! The Senior List has begun reaching out to medical alert system manufacturers to request greater transparency in their T’s & C’s AND to allow The Senior List to advocate on behalf of consumers (and provide solutions to consumers with issues).
For those companies that want to work with us (and ultimately with you – the consumer), The Senior List can vastly IMPROVE their reputation, which will lead to more and more sales (and referrals).
We’ll reach out to MobileHelp and we’ll tell them there are questions here… We also have some relationships at GreatCall so you may want to look at their solutions as well.
**The Senior List does NOT have any business relationships (distribution, affiliate or other) with any medical alert providers at this time.
My dad (ex-father-in-law) is nearly 94 and just in the last couple years stopped actively farming. Staying inside was out of the question. After much research, we selected MobileHelp due to their GPS-enabled tracking and notification systems. Dad is deaf in one ear and very poor hearing in the other. These were concerns, too.
They have been wonderful! He wears the pager on his belt, has a necklace hanging on his bed and one in the bathroom. The base unit is in the kitchen. He works in his shop in the barn and walks over his 120 acre farm… and I don’t have to worry about him. There is even a website I can go to and it will pinpoint where he is currently. So cool!!!
Dad has not yet had to press the button in an emergency, but while sitting out on his swing, his dog has jumped on his lap and bumped the button. The response from MobileHelp has been quick and even Dad can hear them call his NAME (which is great) to ask if he’s OK. He tells them it was an accident and all is well. Only once did he bump it, not hear them calling him and they immediately called my husband and the squad. My husband immediately called dad’s son to check on him and they were able to cancel the squad right away.
Every incident sends me a text message and they call Joe. The equipment is easy to use… via landline or cellular.
At ~$35 a month ($420/year) it is a great bargain and wonderful peace of mind.
Hope this info helps. — Merlyn McGowan
Thanks for the feedback Merlyn! Appreciate you sharing that with us.
My father is 92 and needs a medical alert device. Unfortunately, he lives in a senior housing facility that already charges over $1,300 per month. He needs a service but cannot afford a cell phone and landline so opted for a cell phone. Are there ANY medical alert services that provide a service that interfaces with a cell phone?
Hi Nancy, There are a number of senior-friendly cell phones that do quite a nice job functioning like a medical alert system. We like the Jitterbug phone from GreatCall. But there are others as well. You could also visit your local cell phone provider and ask for something simple that has emergency call buttons. They may have just what you’re looking for. You could also add him to your account under a family-share-plan to maximize savings.
Hope that helps! AC
Life Alert Medical Alert – Don’t be fooled by thinking since this company has been in business for years – it can be trusted and is your best choice. There are lots of alert devices available – You have a choice – Don’t choose this one.. After contacting someone at Life Alert for information on their system, I was persued by one of their representatives. I received several calls, even at my workplace. After speaking with this representative, I decided to try the Life Alert System for my mother based on the information I was given. Her health concerns were mainly to do with her limited mobility. She was always afraid of falling. After getting the information and assurance from this representative that if for any reason (and was told this several times by everyone I talked with @ Life Alert) that the Life Alert system did not meet my mother’s needs or she would not use it, I could simply return it and they would discontinue service. This was even verified by the last person I spoke with when they verified information for the delivery. Once they went over the contract (again saying don’t worry about it, the contract is for 3 years but for any reason, we will discontinue this contract and you can return the equipment). Don’t fall into the same TRAP I did. They will not stand by their word. You will be stuck, if your parent refuses to use it, if she has problems hearing anyone on the system to help her, or any other reason, YOU ARE TRAPPED. Good Luck dealing with them.
I’m not sure if questions go here, but I have been searching for some time for a medical alert system. My situation is very different from most. I am not in my house much of the time, but I’ll be 70 this year and live on a small farm alone. I’m riding tractors, lawnmowers and using saws.
I am concerned that if I should get hurt or overheated in the sun etc., that I will not be able to use my cell phone, or if I should have a heart attack or stroke that I would not have ample warning, but might be able to push a button.
It would have to have GPS capability because there is a very big chance that I won’t be in the house where I can be found.
Any suggestions? I’ve heart one advertised you can buy at Wal-Mart but don’t know enough about it.
Thank you for any help you can give.
Hi Ginger, It sounds like you would want to make sure your device has GPS tracking- please see this link, https://www.theseniorlist.com/2013/01/new-medical-alert-systems-offer-mobility-outside-the-home/, for information about several devices in this category.
Hi ginger
I am in the same situation n.c.
My daughter convinced me to go with comfort keepers very good gps tracking and if you fall or drop it they respond to you verbally.
I feel it’s a little expensive monthly but I really feel secure using it by my bed as well.
I have used it and found they were very helpful and immediate in their response.
Jean
There is one that’s not even on your list. Life Beacon- this one is better than most just due to the GPS capable. Here let me tell you more about it:
CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY, INTEGRATED GPS, UNPARALLELED RESPONSE TIMES, 2-WAY VOICE COMMUNICATIONS,GO ANYWHERE VOICE CAPABILITY, GEO TRACKING SERVICE, TEXT NOTIFICATIONS, THE SECURITY PARTNERS DIFFERENCE
Beware of other companies that may try to sell you a personal emergency alert system. Unlike others, we never outsource our monitoring services to the cheapest bidder. Only Security Partners can provide the proven monitoring services from our in-house central station. Our monitoring station is a state-of-the-art, UL listed, FM approved, CSAA 5-Diamond facility outfitted with the latest technology to provide customers with premium services at reasonable prices.
We’re aware of Life Beacon, and it looks like a decent mobile medical alert system. Frankly, it’s hard to find out much about the device and/or the OEM. Most of the dealer websites out there aren’t very transparent about costs etc., (in fact most are just fishing for leads via a lead-gen form). One Life Beacon dealer we contacted directly couldn’t even tell us the monthly costs without visiting their own website (which we were on at the time). They were very confused, which is quite unsettling. We’d probably wait on Life Beacon until there is more information available, and trusted resources that can vouch for the product (and associated services).
I need to obtain a program for my 90 season old mom to use as I will be moving soon and she desires to work. My issue is my house is two experiences. If she is downstairs and the observe is upper level, what happens when she clicks the button? Can I get a observe for both upper level and downstairs with the Philip lifeline alert system?
“Business Phone System”: We recommend that you contact Philips for specific questions about your mom’s situation. They will have a solution to meet your needs.
These personal alarm systems are really effective in providing customized response for our special needs. They are mainly useful for elders who get isolated in their home.
Love the list of products. We just got a cellular medical alert system for my grandmother. She is so happy with it, and so are we!
I purchased a DependOne medical monitoring system for my mother and it works great. My siblings and I were looking for a medical alert button that our mother could speak through and listen through and we came across the dependone system. It seems like a reliable system and the test call went good. So far we are satisfied