Suitability Considerations

This page aims to give you a better understanding of how FirstCall Medical Alarm Pendants actually work, and their suitability for your particular situation. There are two basic types of FirstCall Medical Alarms - the ‘Home Safe’ Medical Alarm that uses the NBN voice service or an old-style telephone line connection, and the ‘Versa’ Mobile Medical Alarms that use the 3G/4G mobile phone networks.

Many of the comments below apply equally to other similar medical alarms, but naturally we hope you will choose FirstCall.

A medical alarm is not a life-saving device and cannot provide a guaranteed level of performance beyond what can be expected from technology of that kind. Mobile Medical Alarm Pendants use external systems and services such as telecomminications networks, wireless cellular networks, and global positioning satellite systems, which the provider of the alarm does not control.

Although these types of medical alarms have proven very popular and effective, there are some things you need to know about their use and limitations.

1. The FirstCall ‘Home Safe’ Medical Alarm System

Use with Pacemakers

This type of Medical Alarm uses a pendant that emits very low radio frequency energy, similar to a garage door opener or remote control. There is no problem using the FirstCall ‘Home Safe’ pendant with pacemakers, (unlike pendants that operate on mobile phone networks).

Pendant Range and Pendant life

The FirstCall ‘Home Safe’ Medical Alarm system is designed to operate around the average sized home and garden. The pendant range needs to be tested at the time of installation. Because the radio environment can change, it is important not to rely on the maximum range found during testing. We recommend using 50% of the maximum range found.

The pendant contains a lithium battery that will last for many years. The battery cannot be changed. We recommend purchasing a new pendant every 5 years.

Connecting Medical Alarms to the NBN

The FirstCall ‘Home Safe’ Medical Alarm connects to the NBN or to an older exchange telephone line. This is different to many other similar Medical Alarms that use the 3G or 4G mobile phone networks. The advantage of the ‘Home Safe’ alarm is that there is no SIM card and there are no ongoing mobile phone network charges. The alarm does not rely on a strong mobile phone signal to operate - it will work anywhere the user has a normal telephone. This is a great advantage in city fringe or rural areas.

However, if the alarm is connected to the NBN it does require the NBN service to work. We recommend using the Telstra NBN service with a Telstra Generation 2 or 3 Smart Modem that provides 4G backup, and an Uninterruptible Power Supply to power the NBN modem. See the FirstCall NBN Information.

The FirstCall ‘Home Safe’ Medical Alarm cannot be used with internet phone services such as Skype.

2. Mobile ‘Out and About’ Medical Alarm Pendants (3G/4G)

Use with Pacemakers

Although modern pacemakers have an extremely high tolerance to external interference, you can never be too careful. Just like any mobile phone device, Mobile 3G/4G pendants should be used more than 20 cm from a pacemaker. Persons with pacemakers should use a belt clip rather than a neck pendant.

Mobile Phone Networks

FirstCall ‘Out and About’ mobile alarm pendants use the Telstra mobile phone network to call for assistance. The pendant will only operate in areas with good 4G or 3G mobile phone coverage. Although the Telstra mobile phone network has the best coverage, there are some areas where the network is not accessible and the pendant will not work. You will be asked to check the network coverage on a Telstra coverage map at the time of check-out. There are also rare periods when mobile networks are unavailable.

When activated the pendant will send text messages to your Contacts and will then make voice calls to each Contact in turn, until one person answers and indicates that they will respond by pressing the 1-key on their phone keypad. The voice calls are very important because SMS text messages can suffer long delays during periods of network congestion.

FirstCall mobile pendants make voice calls in addition to text messages, so they do not solely rely upon the text messages to call for assistance.

For more information please see the page About Mobile Phone Networks.

The FirstCall SIM Card

FirstCall mobile alarm pendants are normally supplied with a SIM card linked to the Telstra network. Provision of the SIM card is conditional on you accepting that the pendant will only be used for emergency and occasional testing purposes. It can also be used for answering incoming phone calls.

The SIM account is paid yearly in advance. The first year is included in the purchase price. FirstCall sends a renewal notice each year.

Please see the page SIM’s and FirstCall Fair Use Policy

Fall Detection

Most modern 4G/3G mobile alarm pendants are equipped with a fall-detector, which is a very worthwhile feature. However, there are some things you need to know about the limitations of fall-detectors.

Modern fall-detectors use sensors to detect movement, acceleration and deceleration and, together with complex computer algorithms, try to determine what is, or is not, a fall. Although the sensors and computer algorithms are very advanced, and are being constantly refined, fall-detection is not a perfect science - there are some types of falls that may not be properly detected, such as a gentle slip.

Fall detection is an option chosen at the time of purchase. It can also be switched on and off, and the sensitivity changed, at any time by sending text messages to the pendant.

For more information please see the page About Fall Detectors.

GPS Location Reporting

Mobile alarm pendants use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to identify the location of the person needing assistance. An accurate GPS location fix requires the pendant to be able to receive the radio signals from several low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. When the pendant is taken into buildings, car-parks, shopping-malls, or even between tall buildings, the radio signal from the satellite is very likely to be blocked, or highly attenuated (reduced).

GPS tracking may not work inside buildings, car parks, or among tall buildings. The pendant will only know the position where it received the last accurate satellite fix, which may be some distance away depending on how far the pendant has been moved since the last accurate fix.

For more information please see the page About GPS Tracking.

Battery Recharging

All mobile alarm pendants that operate on the mobile phone networks need to be regularly recharged - just like a mobile phone. This may not be suitable for everyone.

We normally supply the pendant set for an expected battery run-time of about 72 hours. Regardless of how you use the pendant, we highly recommend getting into the habit of recharging the pendant each night.

For more information please see the information About Battery Recharging.

FirstCall cannot be held responsible for failures beyond its control. FirstCall uses external systems and services such as telecomminications and Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems which FirstCall does not control. FirstCall will not be held liable for any consequential loss or damage other than as determined by Australian Consumer Law.