Automatic Fall Detection – What It Is & Why It's Important

Choosing a medical alert device is a great step toward protecting yourself or an elderly loved one. But it can be a difficult process since there are so many alarms on the market with many different features.

Automatic fall detection is one of those features. Almost all US medical alert providers who offer this function charge an extra monthly fee for it (but not here at SureSafe, where we offer fall detection devices that call family!) You might wonder whether automatic fall detection is worth having.

We’re here to explain why it is – and how you can avoid having to pay extra for it after all. Read on to learn about what automatic fall detection does and how it can make all the difference in an emergency.

Why falls matter

Of course, nobody likes to fall. But falls present a significantly greater danger to the elderly.

Firstly, older people are more likely to fall. According to the CDC, one quarter of the elderly population falls every year. Common medical conditions associated with ageing, like worsening mobility or vision, make falls a risk even in places where younger and healthier people would be unlikely to fall.

Secondly, seniors are at risk of being injured in falls. Older people, especially women, may suffer from osteoporosis, which causes bones to break more easily. Some medications, like blood thinners, also put elderly people at greater risk of harm if they’re hurt in a fall.

Thirdly, falls in the elderly can trigger an ongoing decline in health that results in reduced independence and a move to a care home. A fall can cause an older person to become fearful about future falls – not without reason, because falling once raises the chances of falling again. Moreover, an injury like a hip fracture can confine a senior to bed, which can result in a loss of mobility and muscle wastage that is difficult to reverse.

If you’re concerned about the dangers of falls for yourself or an older loved one, you can take the National Council on Ageing’s simple Falls Free CheckUp quiz to assess your (or their) risk of falling.

How do medical alerts help?

It’s clear that elderly people need protection from the risks associated with falls. And there are many steps that seniors and their families can take to reduce the chances of falling. The CDC’s STEADI site has a repository of advice about how to prevent falls, including tips on exercise, fainting, footwear, adapting your home, and more.

However, there is no way to completely remove all risks of falling. That’s why older people need a second layer of protection – a way to call for help fast after a fall occurs.

Let’s think of the harms associated with falls as being divided into two categories:

• Category one is the harms that happen in the moment of the fall – a broken hip, a bruise, or a head injury.
• Category two is the harms that happen after the fall, and these are what a medical alert works to combat.

What can happen after a fall?

Why does getting help fast matter? One immediate example is the issue of head injuries.

We’ve mentioned that blood thinners worsen the risks associated with falls. That’s because they make the blood clot more slowly. If an older person has struck their head during a fall, they might have bleeding in the brain, which could go on for longer and be more severe if they’re on blood thinners.

In this situation, getting help as soon as possible is crucial.

But even if the older person doesn’t have this type of injury, they can still face further dangers if they’re unable to get up from the floor. When an elderly person has to lie on the floor for an hour or more because help isn’t nearby, this is called a “long lie,” and it can be truly harmful.

During a long lie, a senior can start to suffer from hypothermia quite quickly. They may have pressure sores or become dehydrated. And this experience is also just frightening and unpleasant – so it’s no surprise that it can make older people very afraid of walking independently in the future.

With this in mind, a long lie can potentially lead to seriously diminished mobility in the future.

Being able to call for help right away provides comfort and helps ensure that a senior never has to lie on the floor becoming cold and dehydrated and wondering when someone will notice they have fallen.

What standard features in medical alerts help?

Many medical alert devices offer what’s called an SOS button. This is typically a standard part of the device that doesn’t cost extra. With an SOS button, the alarm wearer can press and hold a single button to make a call for help.

This feature is great because it lets older people call for help even if they are not well enough to manage dialing a phone – or if a phone is not nearby.

However, an SOS button isn’t suitable for one crucial type of situation. If the senior wearing the alarm has lost consciousness either before or after the fall, the SOS button can’t help. Another feature is needed.

What does automatic fall detection do?

The CDC’s guidance on falls mentions a type of fainting that can happen when an older person stands up too quickly or has to stand in one place for too long. That’s a situation where an older person’s loss of consciousness happens in the moment before a fall.

Of course, if an elderly person trips and bangs their head during a fall, the head injury can also leave them unconscious. Unfortunately, as we’ve mentioned, this type of injury is exactly the kind that needs medical attention urgently. But with only the standard features of a medical alert, there’s no way for a senior to get that help.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that conditions like heart attacks and strokes can cause an older person to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Obviously, these are also emergencies that need medical attention as soon as possible.

In all of these circumstances, automatic fall detection steps in to get help where it’s needed most.

How does automatic fall detection work?

SureSafe’s medical alerts with automatic fall detection have three sensors to check air pressure changes, movement speed, and impact strength. These sensors feed into an algorithm that decides whether or not a fall has occurred.

If the alarm believes that it is sensing a fall, it will make a call for help all by itself, with absolutely no input from the alarm wearer needed. When setting up the alert device, the alarm owner can designate up to five family members and friends to receive the call. If the first person doesn’t answer, the alarm will call the second, then the third, and so on until someone picks up.

It's worth noting that automatic fall detection can never be completely perfect. That’s because a medical alert that’s set to be too sensitive would begin registering soft changes of position as falls. A medical alert device needs to find the right balance between being sensitive enough to detect the majority of falls without often setting off false alarms.

How can you get automatic fall detection without an extra cost?

Given all the facts about falls and fall detection, it’s evident that fall detection is an essential feature for protecting elderly medical alert wearers. Yet all of the major US device providers charge an extra fee for it.

SureSafe is different. We know that automatic fall detection is a must-have, so it’s included in our medical alert devices at no extra cost.

Moreover, our medical alerts also feature GPS tracking and mobile functionality as standard, too. That means that, unlike some older devices, our medical alerts work outside the home. The GPS tracking feature also allows a senior’s loved ones to monitor their location – which is great for falls that occur outdoors while no-one is around. GPS tracking is essential, too, for elderly people with dementia who may become lost or wander away from home.

Protect your older loved one in the case of a fall with SureSafe

There’s one more thing that you get with medical alerts from SureSafe. That’s peace of mind. When an older person lives alone or is at risk of falls, a medical alert with fall detection soothes their worries about falling. It adds that extra layer of protection that helps seniors maintain their independence while also being safe.

Curious to know more about our medical alerts with fall detection? Our expert team is happy to chat and answer any questions you might have. And there are plenty of ways to get in touch with us so that you can choose the one that suits you. You can use our contact form, call our helpline at 888 540 7193, or email us at [email protected]. Additionally, you can live chat with us online or request a call back.