Medical Alert

I got to the hospital overnight and they boiled the cause down to a stroke. But I could talk. I could use a phone. But I was helpless and in a complete panic, because I knew something was wrong. I knew I couldn't do anything to reach anybody. And I just happened to know right where to put my hand on it. So from then on, I put the device somewhere I can reach it from the shower. For that one particular time that I had to use it, it was wonderful, because I sat here helpless. One time can make a believer out of you. Also, I got my next door neighbor and he has a key. When he opened my back door, he looked like he was going to pass out. It gave him a scare. Because I heard an operator with Medical Alert asking if we needed an ambulance. And his answer was yes.

I just got a new fall pendant, and it's very sensitive. When they sent this to me, they did not tell me exactly what to do about it and that's something that needs to be improved. When I took it off and went to bed at night, the alarm went off on its own. They came out here to see me, and I didn't even touch it. It went off two times with me until I finally called in and questioned them about it on the phone. A young lady told me, “Well, you have to put it on something soft.” That's a very important issue, especially when you're 92 years old, and they don't tell you that in the paperwork. They just said, “Put it on your nightstand.” Medical Alert is wonderful, but they should send paperwork that tell you to put your pendant on a soft surface when you take it off, especially when it's for the fall.

I talked to somebody in the billing department because I don't like the way they're doing the service. I added the fall buttons and they added another $5.25 charge and I don't know what that was for. But it comes every month and it comes off my checking account. I don't know when that's coming and my whole checking account is screwed up. I get my statement, and then it'll show that I've had it. But by then, I've written out five more checks. So, I asked them to just send me a bill, and I'll write a check out and pay it. They said they would. I'm very satisfied with Medical Alert. My daughter is coming in the beginning of August and I’m gonna talk to her about it.

When I call in, the reps are very courteous. I say that I’m just checking and they’ll ask if I’m alright and to call if I need anything. One time, I got stuck in a chair and I had to call Medical Alert. They had to come and get me off the chair. I liked the service and the people. They were very kind and helpful. I don't want to get off of Medical Alert but that's $62 a month and I'm getting older. So I wanna know if there is any way I can do for a price down.

One time, I was using my machine for breathing and my stomach was bothering me. But my elevator wasn't working and I had to go down the steps. It was about five or six of them and they said they could put me in a chair and strap me in, one in the front, one in the back, and they could take me downstairs. As bad as I felt, I could not let them do that as I've had problems with going downstairs. I said no and that my son could help me. They said, "What can your son do that we can't? And there's so many of us and there's only one of him." One of the gentlemen checked me out and asked if I really need to go and I said no.

Another time I went to sit on the side of my daughter's bed. It was an air mattress and it went down and I ended up on the floor and I couldn't get up. They tried to help me up but they couldn't. They asked what to do to help me and so I called the boys. They came and two or three of them lifted me off the floor. Then when I moved in the other apartment, I was asleep and I woke up and I was on the floor with the covers. I called the paramedics to come and get me, and it took three of them, one on each side and one behind me, and then they picked me up.

I was in a bad shape at another time and my blood pressure was up to 225. They told me that they would take me to the hospital and they didn't tell that time how much my blood pressure was. The only reason I found it out was after I got in the emergency room and then the nurses told me what it was. There was another time they had to stay because the hospital was full, had no rooms, and I had to be in the hallway. They did not leave me until the nurses in the emergency room got a bed for me to be in and got the equipment for me to use.

They checked me out in November. They came up first and the ambulance came out right behind them. They asked if I could walk to get on the little car in other room and I said yes and they helped me. When I got on there, they strapped me down. I asked them for something that would cover me up and they gave one. Even if I'm going from my home to a doctor and my insurance provides a ride for them to call, so I call a couple of days early and make the ride.

I feel safe with Medical Alert being there because they know how to carry and take care of me. They have the equipment that they can check with whatever is wrong with me and they run it up. If they see that I need to go to a doctor or to a hospital, they're gonna tell that they can take me, but it's up to me. They're a company that we need with a group of men that can get us out of an accident and the like. I just have one device that I need to send back, but they didn't send me the envelope, they just sent me a seal to put on there.