FallCall Solutions launches FallCall Lite, a Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) app built exclusively for Apple Watch and iPhone.
“FallCall will change the perceptions surrounding Personal Emergency Response Systems,” says Shea Gregg, MD, founder, and president of FallCall Solutions, a Connecticut-based technology startup, in a media release.
“Elders and caregivers will be able to connect through the Apple devices they already own in a simplified way that is more inclusive and engaging than previous generations of technology.”
FallCall Lite features Voice Activation using Siri, Elder Apple Watch battery power monitoring by caregivers, and a fully integrated subscription-based central monitoring service.
The central monitoring service, staffed by trained Emergency Medical Dispatchers, provides real-time emergency event updates through electronic messaging to up to 5 Caregivers on their iPhone or Apple Watch simultaneously and is available 24/7.
Future versions will include “Smart” fall detection and machine learning capabilities, the release explains.
Along with Kristin Gregg, also a practicing physician, the duo founded FallCall Solutions after observing an increasing number of falls among the elderly population. While standard PERS have existed for many years as “help buttons” or bulky devices, they’re often not worn by elders and are not always readily available in an emergency situation.
FallCall Solutions set out to create a service that addresses what the release suggests as the significant limitations of traditional PERS.
“Following an Elder injury, the longer it takes for help to arrive, the worse the outcome…leading to a loss of independence for so many every year,” Shea Gregg continues.
“With more Elders adopting mobile and wearable technologies, it is time we reassess how we can better integrate Personal Emergency Assistants into peoples’ lives. FallCall is an innovation that can achieve this: There when you need it, invisible when you don’t.”
[Source(s): FallCall Solutions, PR Newswire]
I’m curious whether any seniors have struggled to use this device. I have a very hard time seeing small screens (touch screens specifically), so this feels inaccessible to me, personally. I’ve had a lot of success with other, more typical medical alert systems (like these: https://www.alert-1.com/pricing/how-much-alert1-costs-compared-to-life-alert/507), but this just strikes me as being difficult to use.