PERS - What You Need to Know
By Okaty, Rosalie; Today's Caregiver,Publication Date: 2006
Review of PERS (Personal Emergency Response Systems), electronic devices designed to allow people with disabilities or older people living alone to summon help in an emergency. Reasons for wearing a PERS is outlined, e.g. concerns about falling, needing reminders to take medications, or going outside alone. The article tells of one user’s emergency experience where help was summoned in seconds by pressing the button on a transmitter he wore around his neck. Via the receiving-console component of the PERS, he was connected to a response center where trained response personnel had access to the user’s personal profile, identified what help was needed and immediately took action. Response centers can contact family members, neighbors, or ambulance, fire, and police departments, as needed, to reach the user. For people with motor impairments, PERS can be used in combination with switches that are activated by various body movements. The Federal Trade Commission’s suggestions for choosing a PERS best suited to the consumer are listed, e.g. comparison of costs, ease of use, potential interferences with transmissions, and the quality of the Response Center with which it interfaces.
Published by: Caregiver Media Group (Website:http://caregiver.com)
Link to text: http://www.caregiver.com/channels/tech/articles/PERS_what_you_need_to_know.htm
