OT - HELP !!! I'm falling and can't get up!!!!

[Han]

The Daring Dufas wrote in news:iidrd6$rsf$1 @news.eternal-september.org:

Ed, I second that advice ...

[Robert Green]

Fry's was selling Verizon camera phones made by Samsung for $7. I bought a whole bunch. There's one in each glove compartment and I gave one to an elderly friend who had a spontaneous fall on the way to the kitchen and was lying there until his daughter found him. Got a little belt pouch for it so he can have it with him all the time.

Since they're prepaid, there's no worry that someone will break into the car and take them and run up a huge cellphone bill. I haven't activated any of them simply because despite the bold letters that say "Pay only on the days you use it" they've rigged it so that money evaporates from the account the second it's activated. VW is the worst cell phone carrier in the world but they also have the best coverage.

-- Bobby G.

[Robert Green]

Ouch! Same thing happened to me. One moment I was walking upright and the next thing I knew I was flat on my back. Didn't hit my head very hard though, but oh what a sore butt. Any time you hit your head so hard you end up stunned or unconcious, you need to be checked out. A friend ended up with with they call a contre-coup concussion:

That's when the brain sloshes around so hard from the impact that injury occurs on the side opposite to the original blow. Sometimes symptoms don't show right away. Katherine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post, slipped on the ice and cracked her skull a few years back and died as a result. Ice is far more dangerous than people realize. Unless you *have* to be out in it, stay inside and wait for a thaw.

-- Bobby G.

[The Daring Dufas]

I agree, I used to sell them in the alarm industry but cellphones are so small now, it would be easy to make up a little holster that could be worn around a persons neck.

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

I think I saw somewhere an emergency call button that works on the cellphone system. The emergency call pendants I sold years ago are connected to the home's POTS line and don't work when the land line is out. I believe there's added safety with a unit that works on the cellphone system.

TDD

[Robert Green]

The little Samsungs I got from VW/Fry's are just slightly larger than some of the neck chain units I've seen. Small enough to keep clipped to my belt or slipped into a pocket. I agree that the transponder you're talking about is smaller and simpler to operate, but having a cellphone in your hands when you've fallen down and can't get up can summon the exact help required. I got a transponder unit from Smarthome but it was the most complicated thing I've run across. It required a separate, corded POTs phone to be able to record a personalized message and the programming instructions were spread across several different booklets and instruction sheets. Very user unfriendly and, as a result, never got used. Still is sitting in the closet.

I got a prepaid cell for an elderly friend instead of a transponder because he expressed a fear that a transponder would simply dial 911 and summon the fire department who would then axe his door down (really - no jest!). I know there are some more expensive units that allow voice contact, and that the dialers can be set to dial friends and family or 911, but I still prefer having a phone.

The upshot of all this is whether it's a cell phone or a necklace transponder, it's a good idea to be able to contact help in case of an emergency. I spent two hours crumpled up on the basement floor next to the dryer when I ruptured a disc. That convinced me that it was smart to have

*some* way to get help if you're alone and immobilized. For a while I used a cordless phone but not a single one I've seen has keyboard lockout. Clip it to your belt and you'll soon be dialing someone or taking the phone off hook simply because you bumped into something. If anyone has a cordless that has a bump-proof keypad, I'd love to hear about it.

-- Bobby G.

[Edward Reid]

A couple of years ago, my sister and her husband (who live in Michigan) got some YakTrax and say they are great. I see there are several models, but I think they got the basic one:

Should be $15 or less. Currently $13 at Sierra Trading Post, and if you know where to find the current free shipping question, you never need to pay for shipping.

Apparently these are much easier to carry around than real crampons. I'm sure they would not be sufficiently reliable or durable for serious ice climbing etc, but that's not what they are intended for.

Edward

[Han]

"Robert Green" wrote in news:iifva1$hi8$ [e-mail]:

Bobby, your points are well-taken. Just as another consideration, cellphone reception in my home is poor, and in the basement probably absent or at least as bad as atrocious. Sorry about your disc problem. I had several attacks of sciatica myself, and haven't enjoyed any of them ...

[Robert Green]

That's a good point - I get great cellphone reception on Verizon all throughout the house - even in the basement because they have a tower right near the house. ATT - no so good. It's something to check thoroughly before adopting a cell phone as an emergency measure. Fortunately the prepaid Samsungs allow you to operate the camera, check signal strength and so on without activating them.

As for back problems, I brought it on myself by raking up seventeen 39 gal. bags of leaves in one day. Later, when I went to take the clothes out of the dryer I bent over and down I went, like a sack of cement. As you probably know, once a disc ruptures, you're screwed for life. If only I wasn't such a macho idiot out to prove how many leaves I could rake in a day. Now I never lift anything bigger than my head. (-:

-- Bobby G.

[Han]

"Robert Green" wrote in news:iihiho$873$ [e-mail]:

So sorry for you. The cople of times with sciatica, I don't really know what I did, except maybe overdo something or another.

[Robert Green]

Thanks. I don't know whether it's better to know what hurt you or not. Sucks either way.

-- Bobby G.

[Tony Miklos]

I didn't know they still made any non-flip cell phones without a locking keypad. My last phone was a cheap Motorola but I don't know the model #. I think it cost me about $20. I'm now using a $25 LG flip phone so I don't need to worry about locking the keypad.

[Robert Green]

news:iidroi$lm$1

Sorry. I switched subjects without a "break, break." (-"

I am looking for a cordless (not cell) phone with a bump proof keypad. The kind that has a base unit that plugs into the POTS line. A flip cordless would be fine but I've yet to see a cordless one or a standard one with a keypad lockout. Maybe it's a patent issue but I've seen dozens of cordless phones and owned quite a few. Not a single one offers any protection against accidentally key "bumps" and worse, still, redial seems to the button that gets pressed accidentally the most.

-- Bobby G.

[Tony Miklos]

OK, now I understand. I have the same problem with my cordless phones when I leave one clipped to my belt. Lucky for me I normally hit "off" or "talk". "talk" by itself just gives it a dial tone, doesn't call anyone.