Personal alarms, and the free Seniors Alert Scheme

A button you wear as a pendant, or on your wrist like a watch (opens in a new tab). It connects through a base unit in your home to a helpline, where someone answers when you press it. The free Seniors Alert Scheme gives one of these.

Read: the Seniors Alert Scheme, then paying for one yourself.

A small alarm you carry, which makes a loud noise when you set it off, to draw attention to you. It does not take the place of ringing 999 or 112.

Read: an alarm for when you are out.

Citizens Information says you must be (opens in a new tab):

• •aged 65 or over, and
• •of limited means.

And any one of these:

• •living alone;
• •alone for long spells during the day;
• •living with another person aged over 65 with limited means; or
• •caring for someone else in your household.

You must also live in an area that a registered group covers, be able to benefit from the equipment, and be willing to keep in touch with the group.

Free: all the alarm equipment and its installation (opens in a new tab), and the monitoring for the first year.

After the first year: you pay a yearly monitoring fee. It varies with the provider and the kind of alarm. In Citizens Information’s words, “The cost may be approximately €70 a year.” (opens in a new tab) Your local group can tell you the cost in advance.

No landline? The alarm can use a mobile signal instead, and then you may have to pay for SIM rental (opens in a new tab).

You wear the button as a pendant or on your wrist. A base unit in your home connects it to a national helpline. When you press the button, it rings the helpline at once (opens in a new tab). The helpline is open 24 hours a day, all year round. The operator talks to you in your home and decides whether to alert a local volunteer responder or, if needed, the emergency services.

The equipment belongs to the local group. If you no longer need it, it must be given back (opens in a new tab).

• •Checks whether you are eligible (opens in a new tab), and helps you fill in the form.
• •Works out the equipment you need, and tells you the current cost of monitoring, and of SIM credit if you need it.
• •Sends the application to Pobal.

You will be asked to confirm that you understand what the equipment is for, and that you will pay the yearly monitoring fee after the first year.

1. What happens when I press the button? Who answers, and where are they?
2. Is the line answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year?
3. Who do you contact: my family, a neighbour, the emergency services? In what order?
4. How quickly do you answer, and how quickly can someone get to me? Can I have that in writing?
5. What does it cost each year, all in: equipment, fitting and monitoring? In writing, please.
6. How long is the contract? How do I end it, and is there a fee to leave?
7. Does it need a landline, broadband or a mobile signal? What happens if I change provider?
8. Who owns the equipment, and what happens to it if I stop?
9. How do I test it, and how often?

• •Can you set it off with one hand, quickly, without looking? Try it before you rely on it.
• •How do you test it? Read the instructions, and test it now and again.
• •What battery does it take, and how will you know when it is running low?
• •Sold Secure, a security testing house in England, tests personal attack alarms and lists the ones it has approved (opens in a new tab). If an alarm says it is Sold Secure approved, you can check that on the list.

From the Gardaí’s “Streetwise” personal safety sheet (opens in a new tab):

• •Plan how you will get there and how you will get home. Tell people where you are going and how long you will be.
• •Your mobile phone is the street thief’s number one target. Avoid making or taking calls in public; if it rings, try to answer it in a public building rather than on the street. Keep it out of view.
• •Choose well-lit places, and avoid dark places for walking or parking.
• •Do not struggle with a thief: you may injure yourself.
• •If you are attacked, report it to the Gardaí straight away.

From Fire Ireland’s advice:

• •At least one smoke alarm on each floor (opens in a new tab). For the most protection, one in every room except the bathroom, kitchen and garage, and a heat alarm in the kitchen.
• •On the ceiling, as close to the middle of the room as you can.
• •Test it once a week: press and hold the test button until it sounds. Change the battery every year, and replace the alarm before its expiry date.
• •For someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, there are units that connect to the alarm and use a strobe light and a vibrating pad (opens in a new tab).

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas with no colour and no smell (opens in a new tab). Having appliances, vents, flues and chimneys inspected and serviced is the best protection (opens in a new tab); an alarm adds to it. Gas Networks Ireland says:

• •Choose one that meets the European standard EN 50291 and carries the CE mark and a mark of independent certification. It should have an “end of life” indicator, and it must sound: a light alone is no use if you are asleep.
• •Put one in every room that has a fuel-burning appliance, and one within 5 metres of every bedroom.
• •Test it every month, and replace it when it reaches the end of its life.
• •It does not replace a smoke alarm.

For more, see carbonmonoxide.ie or ring 1800 89 89 89.