How about installing a Medical alert system for my mother?

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Carloshhead

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Loved one DX
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Toronto
Hi there. I'm Carlo. I'm the only son of my mother. My mother is an ALS patient. She is 65 now. I'm the earning member of my family. I'm working in an IT company. So I need to go to work every day. My father passed away last year. So I appointed a servant to look after my mother. So now I'm planning to install a medical alert system. I need your suggestions
 
I'm sorry to hear about your mom. If you mean a way to summon her caregiver when that person is in another room, can you give us more of an idea of her abilities? There are many options depending on what muscles she controls, what mobile devices she uses, whether she has speech, etc.

Best,
Laurie
 
70 percent of her memory is affected by ALS. So she really doesn't know how to use a mobile or other devices. The only way is to do something with the help of a maid. The servant is doing her best as a home nurse. If there are some medical emergencies servant can alert the hospital as soon as possible.
 
I don’t really understand what you need here? If there is another person present and the issue is they might need to summon emergency services can’t they use a phone to do so? Are you looking for a monitor to alert the assistant that there is a need to call?
 
I think with the alert system. If there is some emergency we can easily alert the hospital authority and take my mom immediately to the hospital. I just discussed it with my friends and one of my friends suggested [commercial link removed]. What's your opinion? Share your views which will be helpful.
 
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I'm not understanding what an alert system could do that a caregiver couldn't, in terms of contacting emergency services. And with ALS, there is really seldom an emergency that requires an ambulance, if the home has the proper equipment, such as BiPAP, suction machine, CoughAssist, hospital bed, wheelchair, Hoyer lift, etc. depending on her needs.

The reality is that as the disease progresses, it is less and less practical to have a "maid" [sic] without healthcare aptitude or experience care for your mom. If she is significantly cognitively impaired, it's really impractical now.

A home health aide (not sure what the levels are in Canada), nursing student, etc. would be more on point, and typically wages are not that high. In case of a genuine emergency, in particular, but also throughout the day, I'm sure you want someone who can help and interact with your mom the way she needs. So instead of looking at new systems, maybe you should look at a different support person.
 
Maybe you did it already - if so, no need to read all of this. If not, you may want to think about what happens if you take an ALS patient to the emergency room - especially if a hired caretaker is involved. If there are not very clear instructions and often a rather outspoken, informed family member the ALS patient might get treatments in the ER that are not necessarily beneficial because not everyone at the hospital ER is trained for ALS.
For example they might administer oxygen for breathing difficulties - standard treatment but not helpful for ALS patients in many cases.
In our hospital - after a few mishaps with ALS patients in the ER and VERY outspoken caregivers plus ALS trained neurologists - the hospital administration programmed an alert in the charts of all ALS patients to definitely involve certain physicians when these particular patients end up being seen in the ER - these physicians were automatically alerted as well and told the physicians on duty how to treat the patient.
If there are any issues with breathing your mother could become trached during an emergency procedure -- you may want to be prepared for all kinds of situations before you go down this route - and know what you would want for your mother so that there are no surprises. In our house there was always a "Do not resuscitate" order on the fridge just in case we needed it for ER/ambulance services.
We used a calling system in the house where my pALS could alert me when I was in another room. We always hoped not to need the emergency room and we did not. When food gets stuck, that's difficult for both, caregiver and ALS patient. The machines that Igelb mentioned help a lot.
I wish you much luck on your journey and can understand that you want your mother safe while you are at work!
 
I have attached the emergency protocol that GregK and I developed, in case it helps anyone.
 

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  • ALS emergency protocol.pdf
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Thanks for that document, Laurie! I will keep a copy with my POLST. Also, I used to work part time at a volunteer fire department - I am having coffee with my old boss the fire chief in the next week or so and I will give him a copy of this.
 
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