A pilot has started in parts of the Cotswolds to help keep vulnerable people without local friends or family safe in their homes.
Using special sensors placed around the home Telecare can detect potential emergencies such as falls, site fire, cialis flooding, carbon monoxide and gas leaks.
One way this works is with a falls detector, worn around the neck or on the wrist, which automatically generates an emergency call if it detects that the wearer has fallen.
This means that even if the wearer has been knocked out by the fall, or is unable to get to their pendant alarm, help will still be sent to them.
Currently in Gloucestershire to benefit from the Telecare service, you need at least two people who can respond to alerts 24/7.
From 18th June, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service will be responding to Telecare alerts in the Northleach, Chipping Campden and Fairford areas. The new response service operates 24/7 365 days a year and can be accessed by anyone living in the pilot areas who has linked Gloucestershire Telecare equipment and does not have local family or friends that can respond.
Cllr Will Windsor-Clive cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure said, “Telecare supports people to live more safely and independently at home, raising the alarm if help is needed. Our fire fighters are also often called out to help vulnerable people. This pilot will give those who don’t have local friends or family another way to get urgent help if and when they need it.”
Cllr Dorcas Binns, cabinet member for older people said, “We think joining forces with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue will mean even more people can be safe and independent at home. Telecare has already proved itself to be a life saver for so many people in our communities.”
If the pilot service in Northleach, Chipping Campden and Fairford is a success it could be rolled out further across the Cotswolds later this year.