The Importance Of Having A Medical Alert Device During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted by: KHTS Articles in News Articles December 15, 2020 - 9:12 am 0 765 Views

Having now gone almost an entire year living in the age of the coronavirus pandemic it is, for some, almost something we’ve grown accustomed to.

In many ways it is a default setting for the human spirit that we look to adapt so well to trying times that we almost mask, and occasionally forget, the hardships that surround us. For some, this is simply not possible.

The COVID-19 virus has resulted in the deaths of over 1.3m individuals, in the US alone that figure stands at just under a quarter of a million, and it has been the vulnerable and the elderly who have borne the main brunt of this sickening death toll.

It’s worth noting the statistics when it comes to analysing the impact of this deadly virus on the elderly. Those aged 75 and over are 8x more likely to require hospitalization, when compared to those under 30, should they contract the virus and they are 220 times higher to die, by the same metric. Those are frightening numbers.

Indeed that number was exacerbated in many countries, particularly the UK, by very poor management of care homes for the elderly, and in this sector specifically it is felt that not enough care and attention has been provided.

You can tell alot about a society by the way they treat their elders and sadly, in some cases at least, the rather nonplussed attitude to the way this virus is particularly deadly to the elderly doesn’t show many in a good light.

For those younger members of society the pandemic has been seen as something akin to an inconvenience, that the curbs on their freedom were for some were too much of concern, when in fact these have been in place specifically to protect those most likely to suffer at the hands of the virus itself.

When it comes to the current pandemic it’s crucial that the elderly are well cared for and in many ways a medical alert device offers the best, most effective, way to look after the aging proportion of the population.

On a very basic level these devices, in whatever form they take, provide an instant opportunity for any those who seek help to access it. On another level the possession of a form of medical alert device also provides an element of independence that could offer the elderly the chance to live life as normally as possible given the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Medical alert devices come in many forms, such as in-house alarms, voice-in necklaces as well as the increasingly popular medical id bracelets. All are designed to offer users a great layer of protection, the protection that comes from the knowledge that medical assistance is never too far away, should the need arise.

In the case of id bracelets you have the additional benefit of a medical alert apparatus that can also relay important medical information about an individual, which in turn will aid the recovery of the wearer substantially.

Medical alert devices are sometimes used as something of a last line of defense, especially to those elderly members of society who are perhaps left all the more vulnerable due to lack of contact with others, but they are certainly an item that is now almost commonplace in the home as a whole.

The medical alert market is growing fast, perhaps aided by the increasing size of the elderly among the overall population, with the projected growth predicting an increase of 6.8% up to 2023. That growth would bring the market to an estimated value of over $26 billion.

Clearly these alert systems are commonly related to emergencies resulting from falls in the home but are now amenable to other challenges, especially as they have modified and grown to be more mobile in nature.

While we regularly hear of upcoming vaccines set to be rolled out across the world, which will aid the overall eradication of the virus as a whole, it’s fair to say we are still some way away from any sense of normality.

With that in mind it’s crucial, especially for the elderly, to be vigilant and to plan ahead effectively, to therefore better deal with the possibility of infection, and subsequent symptoms, suffered by those most at risk during the COVID-19 age.