Community alarms
Definition: Community alarm, emergency alarm or social alarm
A community alarm service provides peace of mind for people who feel at risk in their own homes. It is a 24 hour 365 day monitoring service giving the freedom to live independently knowing that assistance is at hand when needed.
Community alarms are used to summon help in an emergency. They are also called emergency alarms or social alarms. A typical emergency alarm can be activated in several ways:
- By pulling a cord in your home
- By pressing a button on a neck pendant
- By pressing a button on a wrist band
A message will be sent to a monitoring centre that is staffed 24 hours a day. The monitoring centre will know the address of the call and will either try to speak to the resident or will alert a neighbour, family or the emergency services. Some community alarm services have dedicated staff who can visit the person.
Monitoring centres are provided by local councils, charities and commercial companies.
Many community alarm systems are being adapted so that they can monitor a range of "telecare" devices that can monitor someone's health and home from a distance.
See also Assistive Technology/Telecare
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