Email

By Greg Bartlett

Have you ever heard the statement “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”? For some people, that is a reality. And if they can’t get help to get up, serious injury and even death can occur. There are a lot of people with medical conditions that require assistance or monitoring, from tuberculosis, to dementia, to autism, to Alzheimer’s, to the hazards of simple old age.

For family members of these people, concern for their health and safety can be minimized if the individuals are cared for by someone or have access to help immediately. Some people, however, don’t want to live in nursing homes or places where they have someone who will constantly check on them. Instead, they prefer to live at home, where they’ve lived all their lives. Can these people be safe and still live at home?

Actually, yes. One way to ensure their safety is with GPS systems, which can allow concerned individuals – such as family members and medical personnel – to track the movements of the individual at all times. If someone wanders away and gets lost, the location will be sent to the family or medical personnel and the individual can be found and brought back. If someone falls or is injured, most of these GPS systems have a way to send a distress signal for help. Family or medical personnel can then check up on the individual and provide assistance if needed.

GPS systems can be especially helpful for those who wander off or could be in danger if left alone. In recent years, more medical personnel are using GPS devices to track Alzheimer’s patients to ensure that they don’t get lost or injured.

For instance, in Utah a man with autism has wandered away from home repeatedly, and police and medical personnel have had to search for him. Sometimes these searches can take hours and even days. However, once the family began using a GPS tracking device to monitor the individual, police officers were able to locate him about15 minutes after he wandered off. That’s even after the police and medical personnel took a few wrong turns while searching for him.

Families don’t have to worry about their family members with medical needs who want to live in the community. With GPS systems, they can still be safe and secure while keeping the independence they desire, and family members can relax, knowing that help will be on the way instantly if a need arises.