Alert1’s Key to Protection: the Circle of Care

Updated 2/24/25

 The key to Alert1 protection and safety is our members' emergency contact lists, or the group of people we set up to contact when you press the emergency help button on your medical alert system.

Can you guess how many emergency contacts should be listed on your medical alarm system? Our recent data suggests that 3 emergency contacts is the optimal number to ensure you receive immediate help. With Alert1 medical alert systems, we allow you to update and customize your emergency contacts at any time. 

To set up your emergency contact list, you answer a few questions after you order your Alert1 medical alert system. You can add multiple people to your Circle of Care. We recommend that you include family, friends or nearby neighbors.

One of our most commonly asked questions is: Who shows up when I press my emergency help button on my medical alert system? The answer is, the right person to get you help! When we customize your contacts, you can prioritize your contacts so our Command Center knows who to call first. It may be a friend, family member, caregiver or 911. We automatically include your local 911 services free of charge. 

Our medical alert systems have two main categories of contacts in the emergency contact list: responders and the notifiers. As the name suggests, the responder is someone who helps you during an emergency. When you press your call button during an emergency, the responder is the first person we contact.

Responders usually include family, close friends, neighbors, and the emergency services. Responders need to live close enough to you that they can quickly reach you during an emergency. If none of your friends and family live close enough to you to help quickly, don’t worry, we can set 911 as your primary responder and they will get you help quickly.

The notifiers, as the name suggests, are your contacts that are notifiers when you have an emergency. These are usually family and very close friends that live too far away from you to offer any help when there is an emergency, but who will want to know if you need help. The notifiers will be informed about your emergency after you have gotten the help you need. You’re always in the know with a call if help is dispatched to a loved one.

To better understand our emergency procedures, let’s look at the story of Eliza from West Virginia. Eliza has a son, Sean, who lives in the bustling metropolis that is New York City. Because Sean lives in New York, he is way too far away to be of any immediate help should an emergency arise. Thus, Eliza chose to have Sean notified if she ever has an emergency. Fortunately her nephew Rick lives in the next town, making him the perfect responder. Eliza also wants to contact her brother Aaron should anything happen to her. Thus Eliza has her emergency contact list when she orders her Alert1 medical alert system:

1. Call Rick, her nephew (Responder)
2. Contact Sean, her son (Notifier)
3. Contact Aaron, her brother (Notifier)
4. 911 (Backup Emergency Responder)

Another scenario might be that Eliza does not have nearby responders. That means when Eliza gets her medical alert system, none of Eliza's family and friends can be her responders. This means Eliza can simply put the Emergency Services as her responder. When Eliza presses her emergency help button on her medical alert system, her emergency contact list is:

1. Call 911 (Primary Responder)
2. Contact Sean, her son (Notifier)
3. Contact Aaron, her brother (Notifier)

Situations change and people move around, so there will probably be a time in which you will need to change your emergency contact list. Don’t worry! Changing the emergency contact list on your medical alert system is really easy! All you have to do is call Member Care Services and they will guide you through the process. It only takes a minute or two.

The emergency contact list is both easy to set up and extremely helpful! We make sure you receive all the assistance you need as well as inform your loved ones about your condition. We can also respond faster to emergencies because we have all the contacts pre-programed in our system. Plus, when you can’t speak during an emergency, we will still get the right people to come at the right time.

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• What Happens If I Press My Help Button And They Can't Hear Me?
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