Alarm 'bell' calls to aid pensioners

Feb 27 2008 By Emma Cullwick

A NEW potentially life-saving alarm system is being launched in Worcestershire in a bid to keep pensioners and other vulnerable people safe from harm.

Worcestershire County Council is fitting the new state-of-the-art Telecare system into hundreds of homes in the county.

The device is plugged into a telephone line and can be activated by pressing a button, which can be attached to an individual or their clothing.

Homes are also fitted with sensors, which can detect whether there has been a fire or whether the room has plummeted to a potentially dangerously low temperature.

The sensors can also detect whether someone has had a fall or whether carbon monoxide or gas levels have reached a level that could prove deadly unless action is taken.

Coun Philip Gretton, the council's Cabinet Member for Adult and Community Services, said: "If one of the sensors is triggered, the Telecare unit will make a telephone call to a monitoring and response centre.

"The centre operators will then try to speak to the individual and if no response is given the operators will contact a family member, a home carer or the emergency services. "

* For more information, call 0845 6072000 or visit www.whub.org.uk or www.worcestershire.gov. uk/telecare