Do You Need Help, Ms. Beck?

Those were the heart-warming words, Marion Beck heard after her walker collapsed and she crashed to the floor. “Lifeline was my salvation,” says Marion. Fortunately, Ms. Beck wears her Lifeline personal help button day and night, so assistance was just a press-of-a-button away.

Has this ever happened to you?

• Fallen and laid sprawled in the backyard until a neighbor or meter reader found you?
• Found your mother lying in the living room where she had fallen last night?
• Tripped and fell and had to crawl to a large piece of furniture to haul yourself up?
• Didn’t have the strength to get up from the chair or the bathroom commode?
• Thought you were having a heart attack and couldn’t get to the phone?
• The monsoon knocked out your power and now living alone doesn’t seem so great?

This could be your situation. Your parent’s. Your neighbor’s.

Marion Beck like thousands of other seniors, enjoys her backyard, her pets, her neighbors, her house. We all like to be among our favorite things and familiar surroundings that bring us joy. How can we feel safe and secure after we admit we are no longer young and able to handle every emergency that may happen? Lifeline of Information & Referral Services is a way to be independent and safe knowing someone is always there to help when you need it.

As we age, most of us want to remain independent, even when our adult children are clamoring to be “helpful” and pay back all the love we lavished on them as young children. We want peace of mind without having to rely on others. The Lifeline Emergency Response Service is the way to add security for the independent senior living on his/her own terms and a way for the “helpful” children to feel useful by being a designated responder. Everyone wins.

Life is unpredictable; an unexpected fall or medical emergency can threaten your future health if help is delayed. With Lifeline you can answer the telephone without having to rush to grab a handset and risk falling. State of the art computer technology instantly provides the caring Personal Response Assistant with your accurate information and special needs. The staff has the training and important personal information at their fingertips to quickly evaluate and respond appropriately to each call.

Keeping loved ones informed is an important part of the service. If we must dispatch a medical emergency responder to your home, we notify your designated loved ones based on the information you’ve given us. We have your life and health wishes on our monitoring screens. We know what medications you take, so we can inform emergency responders. Responders are people such as neighbors, relatives and friends you have on your personal assistance list. These responders can often be with you even before the medical emergency team can be. Your personal information will tell us where the hidden door key is so the emergency response team doesn’t break down your door, adding insult to injury. Should you be whisked off in an ambulance, your designated responders will be told where you have been taken.

Temporarily you may need assistance, perhaps when you’ve been discharged from the hospital. Having the Lifeline service for a few months may be just what you want when it is difficult to get around with a cast or stitches. Rather than over-exert yourself in order to reach the phone where you left it on the coffee table, just press the button and help is on its way. Rather than stay with someone, you can be in your own space knowing help is available.

Are you a winter visitor? The Lifeline service can be activated for you in Arizona; then re-activated in your summer home when you travel back. You can take the Lifeline unit with you and connect it to your phone wherever you live. Just notify Lifeline of your current residence and the same excellent service is available.

Take a moment and assess your peace of mind and sense of personal security. Would paying slightly more than $1 a day for Lifeline service enhance this?

Information & Referral Services in Tucson has been providing assistance to the people in the Southern Arizona community for over 40 years. As a HelpLine, it provides information, referrals, problem-solving, and crisis triage for the five southern counties through local and toll free lines. Want a square dance class? Want to volunteer? Need financial help? Need an advocate for senior services? Call 325-2111 or 888-575-2111 from 7-7 weekdays & 10-4 weekends and holidays. Trained Information Specialists respond to your call.

-Desert Mountain Source