05/08/2007

Seniors to get alarm system

By Brian Mcgillivary

bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Ethel Brayton, 81, is on a waiting list to receive a personal emergency medical monitor. She fell and broke her wrist two weeks ago.

TRAVERSE CITY — Ethel Brayton likes her independence and wants to remain living at home, but a recent fall that broke her wrist concerns her family.

"My kids are a little bit worried about me, and I'm not as stable on my feet as I was when I moved here six years ago,” said Brayton, 81.

Since the fall, her daughter, Lorraine Miner, spends most of her day at her mother's house and the rest of the day worrying, even though Brayton's apartment has a pull cord in two rooms to summon help.

"If she had fallen in the living room or kitchen, she wouldn't have been able to get any help at all,” Miner said.

Personal emergency response units could be one solution, and Brayton might get some help soon to defray costs. The Grand Traverse Commission on Aging currently provides 20 emergency monitors to local residents and decided to put out for bid its 14-year-old contract with Lifeline, a division of electronics maker Philips.

The move paid off, and in June the COA will be able to offer 130 monitors on a sliding scale of $2 to $17 a month when it switches from the Lifeline program to low-bidder Guardian Medical Monitoring Inc., a division of the Guardian Alarm Co.

Personal emergency wireless units are worn on the wrist or around the neck and connect to a home phone system. In case of a fall or other emergency, the wearer can push a button and talk to a dispatcher, who then contacts 911 or a family member, depending on the situation.

"It can be a lifesaver and we see a very big correlation between having one of these units and staying in the home,” said Georgia Durga, COA director.

"It is exciting; we have a lot of people who have been on our waiting list for a long time, so they will be thrilled,” said COA program director Jill Case.

The COA had been providing just nine monitors since 1993, but the waiting list grew so much the organization increased funding for this year, which triggered the bid process.

Guardian will provide the same service with a few more options like medication reminders for $17 a month, compared to $38 for Lifeline. Combined with the increased funding, the COA will be able to expand the program in June once the county board approves the contract on May 30.

For more information on the program call 922-4688.