Medical Panic Alarm
For anyone concerned about falling or needing medical help while alone, a medical alert device can provide peace of mind. The devices connect to a monitoring center professional and display the user’s on-file information, including their address and health conditions.
Nurses and other hospital staff can use wearable panic buttons to quickly contact security, too. Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo, outfitted its workers with them after assaults against staff tripled between 2019 and 2020.
What is a Panic Button?
A panic button is a specialized emergency device that allows you to summon help by pressing a single button. It can be worn around the neck, wrist, or as a keychain and is designed to work even when your phone is off or you are out of range. It works by sending an alert to the monitoring center that you need help immediately and then notifying a local emergency response team based on your preset preferences.
Panic buttons are commonly used in the hospitality and healthcare industries where staff is at high risk of attack or assault. They can also be a valuable tool for business owners who operate in dangerous areas or businesses that require employees to work alone.
In addition to helping to defuse potentially violent situations, panic buttons can also be helpful in a variety of other emergencies such as heart attacks or seizures. For example, many seniors use a medical alarm pendant equipped with a panic button to help ensure that they are not alone if they experience these types of events.
Medical Alert Similarly, hospitals have begun to use panic buttons to diminish the risks of violence against hospital staff from patients frustrated by coronavirus visitation restrictions and long wait times. These situations often arise when people are in a state of heightened stress or anger and can’t be reasoned with.
How Does a Panic Button Work?
In the most basic form, a panic button is a button that connects to a communications system. When the button is pressed, it will activate the alarm and send a notification to designated contacts. These notifications can be sent to a monitoring station, group of managers or directly to the individual that activated the alarm. The monitor can then follow a pre-determined response plan to verify the emergency and send assistance.
Depending on the style of panic alarm, the user can choose between a silent or audible device. Silent panic buttons are perfect for situations where the employee may be confronted with aggressive or threatening behavior from a member of the public and would not want to draw attention to themselves by activating their alarm. Audible panic buttons are more suitable for situations where the employee could be rescued by another person who is close by and the alarm might alert them to their location.
Whether the alarm is being used at work or at home, it is important that the device works as intended. As such, it is recommended that users test their devices regularly to ensure that they are functioning correctly. This is especially crucial if the device is being relied on in an emergency situation. It is also recommended that users familiarize themselves with the buttons and how to use them before an emergency occurs.
What are the Benefits of a Panic Button?
A panic button can give peace of mind to elderly people who live alone, as well as their relatives. They can use the button to contact the police in situations of duress, giving them an extra layer of security that they are not completely on their own. The button can be set to either blare a siren or to silently alert the police to an emergency. This can help to reduce the amount of time that it takes for police to arrive, which can be very important in an emergency situation.
A workplace panic button can help to improve employee safety and increase productivity in the event of an emergency situation such as a fire, active shooter or an intruder. It can also reduce the number of incidents of workplace violence, which are all too common in today's society and cause a significant amount of damage to businesses and loss of life.
The system is easy to use and can be quickly activated by a simple press of the button. Once pressed, a monitoring professional from the home security or medical alert company contacts you via the base station or control panel to verify your emergency and dispatch the appropriate authorities. This can help to avoid any delay in the response to an emergency, which may be caused by a failure to pick up the phone or having to describe your situation in detail.
How Can a Panic Button Help Me?
Having access to a panic button is important for anyone that may find themselves in an emergency situation. The ability to quickly and discreetly call for help can mean the difference between life or death. When a person presses their panic button, a monitoring professional from the home security or medical alarm company will speak to them through the base station or control panel of the system and dispatch first responders if needed.
The newest devices are portable and designed to be worn, like a necklace or on your belt. The wearables work over Bluetooth or WiFi and can be instantly activated. They are ideal for employees, such as hotel housekeepers, that must move throughout their workspace and can be in a variety of potentially dangerous situations during the course of the day. Many of these systems also come with lone worker check-in functionality that can monitor an employee’s location and provide them with alerts to defuse potentially dangerous situations.
In commercial businesses, a disgruntled customer or a person with mental illness can sometimes become agitated and present a danger to other employees or customers. In these cases, a lone worker device can help to minimize response times and defuse potentially dangerous situations with an audible alert that will scare the individual away. These devices are often used in restaurants, hotels and casinos as well as in healthcare centers, offices and retail environments.
