About 3 years ago I made the tough choice to move back to my home state to be closer to my parents. Mom and dad have been getting up there in age and things have gotten a little difficult for them.
I had been making trips home to help with things more and more frequently, so it just made sense. Turns out, though, my parents are completely unwilling to give up the RV lifestyle and settle down on a nice safe recliner, so my being here only really helps when they pop by between trips.
Mom is an avid church lady, going to Sunday service, bible studies and church events pretty frequently. Dad is the kind of guy you’d have to physically tie to a chair in order to slow him down, so he’s out in the yard or garage, making Costco runs and battling traffic all day because apparently sitting in one place for any longer than 12 minutes at a time is a sign of weakness… unless you’re trading stocks, of course.
Eventually mom had a fall, she tripped over something in the basement while digging around for supplies for one of her bible studies and busted her shoulder badly. I was able to get there and help, but it hit me that I’d have been completely useless if she had fallen in Michigan, Florida or any other place they frequent. We needed an alert system. I remembered those old “Life Alert” commercials with the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” line that we all remember. That’s where I started my research. What I ended up going with was the Medical Guardian Mini, or “MGMini,” and it’s already proven useful.
The MGMini
Much like the old Life Alert from that famous old commercial, this is a small medallion you can wear around your neck that let’s you call for help. This one is designed to be worn in a few easy ways, which helps keep it from looking so conspicuous. It can clip to your shirt, pocket, even your bag. Honestly, you could just keep it in your pocket if you really wanted but you need to be careful with the button on the front if you do that.
Here’s how this works: Let’s say you have a fall, or get into an accident and you can’t easily get to your phone. All you have to do is push the button on the MGMini and it will immediately call for help. Where is it calling, you ask? Medical Guardian has its own staffed call center with operators standing by ready to help. They’ve all been trained to listen and react in the best interest of the user. Operators are TMA Five Diamond and ESA Security certified in order to provide the best and most helpful assistance possible.
Once they get your call, they will stay with you, monitoring your situation and can connect to EMS, police and even a loved one if needed. When my mother fell the first time, I was playing intermediary between emergency services and her, swapping between calls making sure the right info was shared and we could all get to her quickly and safely. If I had known she was already being looked after by a trained tech, I’d have been able to focus and get to her even faster. We’d have been able to notify them that the doors were locked and they’d need to break a handle to get in. Having someone handle all of this is such a valuable thing!
Let’s say you are non-verbal and the assistant can’t talk with you directly, what then? Well, that’s where this thing really starts to come in handy! It uses a cell signal to send GPS data out to the center when the button is pressed, so even if you can’t talk, they will know exactly where to send help. This is particularly good for my parents considering how active they are. As I write this review, Mom and Dad are on a cross-country RV road trip which will include a flight to Alaska. If anything happens, I want to be able to find them no matter what!
Discretion is Key
The MGMini is a small and easy to stow device, which is good. But you don’t want it too out of the way, as having it easy to access during an emergency is very much the point. A lot of seniors don’t want something like this out in the open and visible to everyone, though. Having a monitoring device on can be a blow to the pride without a doubt. Luckily, Medical Guardian has thought this through.
The Mini comes in 4 colors; silver, gold, black and white, and when clipped, it looks like a garage door opener or a tech assistant. If that still feels too out of place, though, they make two watch variants, the Mini Lite, which is a simple push-button device like the Mini, or the MG Move, which looks like a smart watch and even has a couple app features! This way, even if your loved one is a bit wary of conspicuously wearing a medical alert device, there is a model that will work for just about everyone!
When Help is Needed
This thing came in very handy about a year ago. My mother was heading to a potluck with some of her church friends and had a big casserole dish of her famous Mac And Cheese she had whipped up for the occasion. Seems that the dish was so big, in fact, that she couldn’t really see where she was going and she ended up missing a step on the way to her friend’s door, falling and breaking the dish, cutting herself quite badly in a few places. The party was already in motion inside and she hadn’t reached the doorbell yet, so nobody knew she was out there, but with a push of the button on her MGMini, an ambulance was immediately notified, and she got to the hospital quickly.
By the time I arrived, she was more distraught about the loss of her last Corningware dish than anything, and my worries were buried under a new mission … find her a new set of Corningware! Honestly, I was absolutely thrilled with how well the system worked and the care they showed for my mom. Help arrived before I even knew there was a problem! Well worth the $39.95 monthly subscription.
TL;DR Specs
For those of you who don’t want all that reading, here you are!
- Monitoring: Optional 24/7 professional emergency monitoring
- Emergency Button: One-touch SOS button
- Location Services:
GPS
Wi-Fi positioning
4G LTE cellular connectivity
- Communication: Built-in two-way speaker and microphone
- Cellular Connection: Embedded cellular service (no personal phone plan required)
- Battery Life: Up to 5 days per charge
- Charging Method: Magnetic charging cradle
- Water Resistance: Splash-resistant for daily use (should not be submerged)
- Fall Detection: Optional wearable fall detection pendant (subscription add-on)
- Power Source: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Wearing Options:
Lanyard
Belt clip
Optional wrist and pendant accessories
- Available Accessories:
Active help button pendant
Wrist button
Wall button
Voice-activated emergency button
Fall detection pendant
Pros and Cons
It’s a great tool that gives both my parents and me a great deal of peace of mind. It works well and the folks at the call center are really nice and well trained. I will say, though, that almost $40 a month is a pretty tall order. It’s also a bit tough to get someone who isn’t terribly tech literate to start reliably charging a new device regularly. Adding the auto fall detection is an added feature with an added monthly fee, as well, so it can get pretty pricey.
That said, I’m glad I picked it up for my mom. Now if I could only convince my dad to wear one too, I’d feel much better!
About the Author:
Ever since a young George was disappointed with a toy that did match up to the advertising, he became a tireless advocate for consumers. He’ll review anything that folks have to spend their hard-earned dollars on. George is grateful that he gets to use his skills as a writer and an artist to help connect with consumers and help them make the best decisions possible.
This article is for informational purposes only and reflects the author’s independent opinion. Readers should verify details directly with the manufacturer or retailer before making a purchase decision.
