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Emergency Alarms for the Elderly
Xinhua
, China
July
12, 2005
Guangzhou's government would invest 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to help
needy senior citizens obtain emergency alarms, the Guangzhou Daily
reported Monday.
The alarms will help senior citizens get aid in an emergency situation.
When a senior citizen presses a button of the alarm, the system's service
center will know who is calling for help and send the information to
paramedics, who can come to the senior citizen's house to offer treatment.
The service center will send the caller's basic health information to
doctors from its data bank even if the person who calls for help cannot
speak when help arrives.
The government plans to give the alarms to 1,000 senior citizens for free.
Retirees living on government subsidies and aged above 60, living alone or
with handicapped children, or retired handicapped People's Liberation Army
veterans, or centenarians, or those who had received the title of model
worker will enjoy the free service.
The government will also encourage senior citizens with adequate incomes
to buy the alarms at 1,500 yuan each. They also need to pay a monthly fee
of 30 yuan. For those who rent the alarms, the monthly fee is 50 yuan.
The program will be launched on a trial basis first in Dongshan District.
The program aroused wide public attention after a senior citizen surnamed
Zhong died alone in an apartment in Guangzhou last week. Nobody found out
she had died until four days after her death. Initial investigation found
that Zhong, above 70, had fallen at night.
Some people said Zhong could be saved if she had received timely
emergency aid.
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