Lifeline

The push of a button brings help

If the truth be known, she really didn’t mind living alone. Things were always right where she left them in her quaint cottage by the sea, and she was free to do as she pleased, when she pleased, as she moved through her days.

She particularly liked to garden, liked the feel of the sandy soil between her fingers, the cool, moist air in her nostrils as she celebrated the beauty that blossomed from her efforts. The fact that she had turned 65 seemed irrelevant to her interests and activities, particularly on this sunny morning as she surveyed the yard and plotted the arrangement of flowering plants she would release from their pots and sink into the garden.

Until she tripped over a garden hose and could not get up.

She knew it was her hip the minute she hit the ground. Her mind raced between panic and wonder about the effects of a broken hip on the balance of her life; but she also knew neither thought would help in the moment. The better idea, she realized, was to reach calmly for the nylon bracelet encircling her left wrist, then to depress the button it held in place and speak calmly to the voice of rescue and reason that would respond.

Fortunately, she was one of 490 local subscribers to Lifeline, a nonprofit emergency assistance program offered by Community Hospital. Launched in April 1981, Lifeline is a response to community requests for an affordable, reliable rescue service for local elderly, ailing, or isolated residents.

“Because she was outside,” says Eddie Oronos, supervisor of Lifeline for Community Hospital, “we could barely hear her. But we could make out the word ‘Help,’ so we dispatched 9-1-1 and paramedics were on their way. She actually had injured her hip, which later had to be replaced. I don’t know what she would have done without Lifeline.”

Here’s how it works. A flat rate of $30 per month includes installation of the Lifeline communicator, which works through the telephone line and has a built-in speaker and microphone. Subscribers also get a waterproof help button, anchored to a nylon bracelet or necklace they wear around the clock, and a 30-minute orientation on how it all works. In times of distress or emergency, a subscriber simply presses the button to reach a Lifeline monitor. There’s a monitor standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This waterproof help button allows Lifeline
subscribers to quickly reach a Lifeline monitor.


“The monitor will contact a designated friend, neighbor, or family member, who will check on the subscriber and advise us of the situation,” Oronos says. “If more urgent or professional help is needed, we will call 9-1-1 immediately. Monitors are local, and a subscriber will always hear a live voice. There are no prerecorded messages.”

For more information or to subscribe, please call 625-4516.