There are people interested in learning all about how Life Alert’s protection works in its entirety. Then there are those who just want the facts, cut and dried, so they can size us up next to our competition (supposed competition).
Well, here is a list of facts that separate us from any other company who says they do what we do, and why you need us!
1. Our button is waterproof – not water resistant. That means our button goes with you in the shower, the tub, the pool in the backyard, etc. Other buttons that are only water resistant will stop working if you get them wet while washing the dishes.
2. When you press your button, you will then be speaking to a medically trained technician – NOT just someone working a second job or a kid trying to make extra money while in college. Yes, our dispatchers are medically trained before being able to take emergency calls. This means that they can listen to members during a medical emergency, and properly relay information to paramedics.
3. When we get a call from a member who needs help, Life Alert dispatches the police, fire, and paramedics directly. We DO NOT call 911. We dispatch directly so that we can save time and get help you our members as fast as possible.
4. We encourage our members to use their button for non-emergency situations. Clogged the kitchen sink? Push the button, and let us call a plumber. Cat or dog sick in the middle of the night? Push the button, and let us call a 24 hour veterinary service for you. Want to know the weather forecast before heading out? Push the button, and we’ll let you know if you should bring an umbrella.
5. During any type of emergency, until help arrives on the scene, our dispatchers continue speaking to our members throughout the entire ordeal. We make sure our members are never alone, and we can even patch children through the Master Unit so that mom or dad can hear a familiar voice while help is on the way.
6. If there is ever a loss of power, our unit has a 48 hour backup. This means that our members could be home with no electricity for up to two days and still be 100% protected.
7. If a member has an emergency and we CAN NOT hear them, we will automatically send out the police and paramedics. Every other company will simply contact people listed on the emergency contact list, and ask them what should be done. This wastes time. If there is a medical emergency, every minute counts.
8. We provide a monitored smoke detector. Why does this matter to you? Well, if something happened while cooking on the stove, your current smoke detector will beep, and you’ll be unable to do anything about it. If you wake up to smoke in the middle, it may already be too late. Our smoke detector is monitored, so at any sign of smoke, the fire department is immediately dispatched. Your insurance company will like your monitored smoke detector as well – many companies will provide a 10%-15% discount off your homeowner’s insurance. And yes, we know that sometimes cooking will set the smoke detector off, so if you happened to burn toast, just let us know and we’ll turn the trucks around.
9. If you’re considering a medical alert button, make sure they take a full medical history like we do. We make sure we note medical conditions, surgeries, medications, and of course, and medications our member is sensitive or allergic to. We want the paramedics arriving to have a firm understanding of the situation so they can properly do their job and not make the situation worse.
10. Yes, we have our members sign a contract with us – and you should be glad we do! In our contract we guarantee our monitoring fee will not change for 36 moths, making it easier to budget for the future. I’m sure there are other companies that may be $5-10$ cheaper per month, but what is their monitoring fee going to be in the next five years? In addition, we also offer a money back guarantee on our services within those three years. We know how important the lives are of our members, and we want to earn their trust, as well as the trust of their families. So to help provide peace of mind, we state clearly that we will not let our member pass away while home alone or else we will refund 100% to their estate. Show me one other company that makes that claim.
