How Do Fall Detection Devices Work? - Around the Clock Medical Alarms

Falls are incredibly dangerous for anyone, but especially for older adults.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year at least three million aging adults are rushed to emergency rooms because they’ve fallen. Of those people, almost a third are admitted into the hospital because they’ve broken a bone or experienced another serious injury. As if that weren’t bad enough, an older adult is twice as likely to fall again once they’ve fallen once.

Why Would Your Senior Need a Fall Detection Device?

A fall detection device isn’t going to prevent a fall. But what it will do is give you and your older family member another level of peace of mind. It can also help your elderly family member to be a little more conscientious about what she does and how she’s approaching her own mobility. All of those small decisions factor in her health.

The Device Itself Includes Lots of Technology

Medical alarms have come a long way from when they first came out. There is a lot about these small devices that is automatic now, which allows them to detect when your elderly family member might have fallen. That’s because these tiny wearables have accelerometers, gyroscopes, and chips that can calculate what all that data might mean. They also contain connectivity technology, which allows them to call for help.

If a Fall Happens

If a fall should happen, the device would calculate a lot of data in a very short period of time. Specific algorithms, or computer processes, would get triggered by a sudden movement or change in data received from accelerometers and gyroscopes. That causes the device to send a ping or alarm to the medical alarm dispatcher, who might try to contact your senior through the device. Some devices may have even more features that allow the dispatcher to monitor things like whether your senior moved again after the fall or what her heart rate is.

After a Fall

Just because your senior might have experienced a fall, that doesn’t mean she’s doomed. Once you know what’s going on with her health, it’s time to look at what contributed to the fall. Are there changes you can make to her home, like removing clutter or making some repairs, that could have prevented a fall? Do what you can to figure out what you can do to help reduce the risk of another fall, including considering trying out a fall detection device if your senior hasn’t already.

Fall detection devices can mean that your senior has help almost immediately if she were to fall. That can make a huge difference in terms of how well she heals from any injury she might sustain.