My mother has Lifeline service ( www.lifelinesys.com ).  She pays
a local home health equipment provider $40 per month for the
service, which includes the pendant that will trip on impact or
with a squeeze and the basic voice unit that was installed on her
phone line.

The squawk box is located on a bookehelf in the hallway and will
pick up her voice from the bottom of the nearby stairway to her
basement laundry area.  She always leaves the door open when she
goes to the basement now.

In many parts of the US, Lifeline partners with local hospitals.

They are terrific gadgets, but only for the frail elderly who are with
it mentally.

We got one for my grandfather after he fell down the outside back
stairs of his house in the winter. Because of the way he'd fallen, he
couldn't get up, and was lying there in the snow where no one could
see him. Fortunately a neighbour found him before anything dire
happened, but that was just a fluke. However, Grampa just couldn't get
the hang of the gadget, or would forget to wear it, so it didn't last
long. The one my grandfather had  not only had an alarm call button,
but had a button that had to be pushed a few times a day just to
confirm he was okay - if the monitoring company doesn't get that
confirmation, they either call a relative or dispatch someone to check
out the situation.

A handy thing would be to have an internet cam in the house in a
couple of spots so you could do a little check to see what was going
on every now and then!

Mary G.