Help at the Touch of a Button
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Freda Seagrave was on her way back to bed early one morning when she twisted her knee and fell to the floor. Alone in her home with no one to call for help, the 82-year-old didn’t panic. Instead, she pushed the small Lifeline button she wore on a necklace and summoned the emergency help she needed. “I couldn’t put any weight on my sprained knee, so I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t wearing my Lifeline button,” the retired community center director says. “Within 15 minutes, the ambulance was here and took me to the emergency department at Mercy Hospital.”
Seagrave, a mother of two and grandmother of two with no family nearby, had experienced bouts of dizziness in the past and realized that she needed a way to contact someone if she were ever hurt. Lifeline proved to be a great answer to her problem.
Here to Help
The Lifeline program offered by Mercy brings peace of mind to hundreds of families in the Bakersfield area by ensuring that help is available whenever it is needed. When a user pushes the Lifeline button, which can be worn around the neck or on the wrist, a speaker box attached to the home phone is activated and automatically connects to the Lifeline call center.
“Once speaking with the call center, the user explains the problem to the dispatcher who contacts the necessary responder,” says Marlynn Verdugo, Lifeline coordinator at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield. For minor problems, a designated family member, friend, or neighbor is called, and for more serious situations, the dispatcher sends emergency services.
“If the subscriber can push the button but is unable to speak, the Lifeline monitor will call the first responder listed on the Care Plan Agreement. If no responder is available, emergency services will be summoned,” adds Verdugo.
The reassurance Lifeline provides allows many people to maintain their independence longer and reduces the need for family members worry about their loved ones. “Knowing that Lifeline is here for me when I need it gives me a lot of satisfaction,” Seagrave says. “This was the first time I’ve needed Lifeline in the time that I’ve had it, but the peace of mind it provides me is well worth the subscription cost.”
For more information about the peace of mind Lifeline can offer, call 661.663.6333.
