Hi y’all,
I have an elderly lady living next door and she doesn’t really seem to have anyone checking on her (I have never seen anyone coming to hers) apart from me and my partner every once in a while (usually she will pop by asking if we need anything and vice versa).
I’m a little bit paranoid about what would happen if she fell/collapsed in her apartment and couldn’t call for help. It doesn’t help that there is a dog living with her (I’m not gonna paint the picture, but I’m sure you heard the stories…).
I want to suggest to her to have some sort of SOS button that she could carry around the flat and, if something happens, she could press it to call for help.
I found this on aliexpress but it has it’s own proprietary android app that I don’t think would work on my GrapheneOS phone. Local, non-aliexpress options are pretty expensive and/or are subscription based.
Do you know of any alternative that wouldn’t break a bank and would have more open source friendly system in place?
EDIT: I was thinking about a cheap wireless door bell (she would have the button - door bell would be in our flat). The problem is when we are away from home.
Perhaps a door bell with simple phone push notifications (my partner has a regular android phone so she could receive those)? Any product suggestions?
I know this doesn’t meet the parameters of FOSS, but in this instance I’d discard privacy concerns and just get her an Echo or Google Home. They’re cheap, and bring able to call out a help request is better than a button she can forget to carry or wear. Either is capable of hearing a command in a 2br apartment, and have SOS ability.
I have a failing MIL in a similar situation. She’s living alone, isolated, not near any family, and won’t move. I gave her a Google Home I had in a box from a few years ago, and it is a godsend. She talks to it, it talks back, and she can make it do things she’s not capable anymore of doing with technology. But most importantly, she can call any of us by telling the Home to do so.
I wouldn’t risk a cobbled-together solution, personally, and right now the OSS technology stack for voice recognition is (a) not inexpensive, and (b) futzy. I have no doubt it’ll get there; there are already some promising devices, but that integration with calling and SOS is the key.
Edit: typos
Seconded. Privacy concerns are sometimes trumped by safety concerns.
My Dad gets confused trying to make a call on his phone, but he can say “Alexa, call Third Breakfast”.
We have an emergency button to go around his neck, with an monthly phone plan, which seems to permanently live on the kitchen bench…
It doesn’t help that there is a dog living with her (I’m not gonna paint the picture, but I’m sure you heard the stories…).
FWIW I think you’re thinking of cats. A loyal dog will often starve to death before harming their master.
All that being said, I think this is one of those hills where it’s not worth dying on for FOSS. There are services out there that are designed to do this and have round-the-clock monitoring. Do you really want to trust that your jury-rig solution is fool proof enough to save her? As you said, if you are out of the house, it does no good. Just something like lifealert is probably better here.
Agreed. I could run water sensors and solenoid valves for my basement water heater off of an arduino or rpi. I could also use a commercial product that has a warranty and a product engineering team and a QA department and etc etc…
I’m going commercial. The potential for damage to be done is too high for some hack job.
I’ve been in FOSS software for more than 20 years but honestly find the absolutism insufferable. It’s not always practical and there are more important hills to die on.
It’s worth consideration in cases where the industry has been monopolized by some kind of “smart tech” product. Like if for your example the only company selling water heaters was Meta, and you needed to sign your soul away and had no right to repair your water heater, then jury rigging as you describe might make sense. But as long as there is a product available which provides a minimally invasive option, it isn’t worth trying to roll your own.
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Dogs can and do eat people. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/would-your-dog-eat-you-if-you-died-get-the-facts
I do agree that OP should look into already existing services that are actively monitored.
lifealert
If I could find a wireless doorbell that would send me a push notification that would be perfect!
That still leaves you as the point of failure. What if your phone battery dies, you are somewhere without mobile service, you go to bed early, you have a bit too much to drink, etc.
At the end of the day, it makes far more sense to just accept a bit of proprietary software if it means that there is always someone available when she presses the button.
Foss has its uses, this isn’t one of them. Get her a life alert or other fully supported solution as this is something her life could depend on and it’s not worth the risk
Just commenting to say how nice it is of you to be that caring about your neighbor.
Thank you :)
We are not even that close, we have a casual chat once in a blue moon and she is very nice. I just want to make sure she can get help when she needs it.
You want something that she’s comfortable with. A necklace or a bracelet/watch with a big red button that’s also specifically made so you don’t have too many false alerts. Because that happens all the times. People do chores and push the button inadvertently and older people don’t want to bother people, so then they’re ashamed of having too many false alerts and won’t have it with them 24/7 out of false shame. So use something that’s made for the purpose and not a doorbell.
Also it has to be obvious how to use it. Even when in distress at 5am after you’ve fell down and can barely remember what you’re supposed to do. A necklace with one big red button will probably do it. Or something similar she can wear around your wrist.
There are also emergency phones with a red button on the back. (And watches with fall detection.) But you need to have a subscription for the phone to dial out. And it needs to be charged regularly. A RF button won’t have those downsides.
I don’t know which product to buy. But seems there are several ones out there < $50
Search keywords would be something like: elderly, emergency button, necklace, pendant, alert system, call button.
https://www.pflegerufset.de/ELDAT-RS16-Hausnotruf-mit-Armbandsender-mit-Quittierungssender/PRS10125
https://www.rollstuhl-senioren.de/hausnotruf-fuer-senioren/
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Emergency-Seniors-Bracelet-Monitor-Elderly/dp/B0B6VRN8JF/
https://www.amazon.de/Handsender-Hausnotruf/s?k=Handsender+Hausnotruf
Aliexpress also has some “Tuya Wifi Smart Sos button”. But I’d probably go for something simple. A button that sends a RF signal and a receiver at your place that’s making the audible alert. WiFi, bluetooth, Apps etc make it more complicated and more likely to fail.
Thanks for you answers so far.
My point is, she is still mentally there (I think) so if she wants one of those subscription buttons, she can 100% get it herself.
I was just thinking, as an extra layer of security, if I’m in the area to help out.
So you don’t even know if she’d want this?
Just give her your phone number.
As others have said, just buy a ready made solution. There’s several options without a monthly fee and no smartphone app. Hell even at RadioShack 20 years ago there was an option that tied into your home phone system.
Try googling “emergency dialer” to find good examples.
I have a number of these buttons about the house
I have a RasPi running https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/
I have one of these flashed as hub / bridge https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203668277433?var=504097716478
Then just some python connecting to the mqtt and responding which I’d be happy to provide a copy of if you decide to go down that route, just let me know. Could have it sending a pushover notification or something along those lines quite easily
That is really cool, but too techy for me. I need something plug and play.
But thank you so much for this suggestion and code offer!
Look, what about an Amazon Echo? I know it’s not open source at all but depending on the house size a couple Echo Dots could cover a lot. I think they can make phone calls because I’ve called my phone to find it before with mine but I’m not sure.
A benefit is that she won’t have to have it on her person.
Something like a Ring Doorbell could work too. Just thinking out loud. This is a weirder suggestion. They have a battery and nothing says they have to be installed on a wall. Just turn off motion completely. At that point she can press the button and talk to you.
Here you go. Will do specifically what you want, including Web hooks and MQTT out of the box. The Shelly cloud is fine, but these are flashable with tasmota or esphome or roll your own firmware.
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As someone who literally designs nurse call systems for a living, this is lovely and well intentioned, but also utterly inane.
You cannot be around someone 24/7. Even if you so much as step out to get groceries, that’s a window of time where something can go wrong.
Nurse call systems save lives. That is a simple fact, and it’s why every nursing home is either expected or - depending on jurisdiction - required to have one.
What you’re doing here is the equivalent of telling a cancer patient to try drinking ginger tea.
