When looking for a suitable service it is good to review the strengths & weaknesses of a variety of personal alarm bracelets.
You might have come across brands such as YourStride, CPR Guardian or SureSafeGO. And maybe you’ve come across us, Acticheck, too.
Different wristbands offer different features, but only Acticheck offer an entirely different approach but it is not for everyone, so here we offer some questions that will help you to decide what is important to you.
Clarity about the purpose of a personal alarm bracelet
The critical function of any alarm function is to call for help and normally this is only needed if there is no one around that can assist or call for help for you. Generally, this is only when someone is isolated such as at home. Those who live in an area where there are people around don’t need anything outdoors as the ‘kindness of strangers’ is likely to get help far quicker than calling someone at home to come and get you.
We hope the following considerations will help you to choose the right system for your needs.
When do you want to use it? Is uninterrupted protection important to you?
While the Acticheck life-saving wristband is designed to offer uninterrupted protection – it is waterproof and has a 1-year battery life – YourStride, CPR Guardian or SureSafeGO all need regular recharging. In practice this means that at least one night in two the wristband will be on charge and not on your wrist, chances are you’ll shower before putting it back on – if you remember to at all.
How easy does it need to be to use in an emergency?
Personal safety bracelets will show you how to use it and it always looks straightforward, but bear in mind that is on a good day.
Consider how easy it would be to use without your glasses and when something is hurting a lot. Is finding and pressing a small button for 3 seconds really viable in such circumstances?
The Acticheck life-saving wristband is designed to do one job and to do it easily. With a button on either side of the wristband. A quick squeeze calls for help and if the wristband vibrates we are asking you to confirm you are OK by pressing either button by itself.
Do you really want a(nother) watch?
If you’re grown up, the chances are you’ve already know your mind. If you want a watch you’ve got a watch, and it was one that you chose, either because the style says something about who you are or perhaps it was a gift from someone special. People look strange when they wear two watches, so make sure the styling works for you.
Of course, unlike YourStride, CPR Guardian or SureSafeGO, the Acticheck Life-saving wristband can’t tell the time. It just sits on your wrist, with its internationally recognized styling (‘IF Design’ and Good Design’ awards) waiting to get help as and when you need it. And looking like a fitness tracker you won’t feel stigmatized wearing it.
What functions do you want to have?
Personal safety bracelets will all call for help, some have fall monitoring (some charge an additional fee to turn it on) but the Acticheck life-saving wristband has a function that none of the others have and gives comfort to many wearers.
I’m OK checks make the wristband vibrate at times the wearer has chosen that they would like to confirm they are OK at. Lots of people will choose breakfast time and later in the evening meaning they can be confident that even if they have not seen anyone that day, help would be called if they were not responsive.
Is the wristband too big for your wrist?
The nature of the beast is that it will be a fair size but some of the wristbands are longer than a normal man’s wrist is wide. Cut a bit of card to the dimensions of the watch to see if it is too big for your wrist.
Because the Acticheck life-saving wristband takes a different approach we come in a smaller size; what’s that they say about ‘precious things’?
Where do you want to use it?
While this might sound daft, some people only want protection for a specific activity, and if that activity is away from home, then a device with its own dedicated multi-network SIM, such as YourStride, CPR Guardian or SureSafeGO might be better for you. However, this ability needs to be set against whether you really need the GoAnywhere function and if you do, perhaps Acticheck’s linking to a smartphone app would work for you better. Coverage is slightly limited as it is bound to the single network your phone is on, but when considered against the advantages the limited coverage might be a small price to pay.
How much do you want to pay?
Talking of paying, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and though cost should always be a secondary consideration to getting something that will do the job well it is worth bearing in mind.
Whilst the first three have self-contained devices which have data charges, the Acticheck approach is different and means you are Offred outstanding value.
Different products structure their costs differently but it is always worth comparing like-for-like costs for the first year and for future years.
Here we compare the costs, including fall monitoring and a monitoring service but excluding VAT (if the wearer has a long-term medical condition the system is VAT exempt) for the basic system from each manufacturer.
- YourStride £299.87 (Year 1) then £239.88/year
- CPR Guardian £549.46(Year 1) then £399.48/year
- SureSafeGO £443.83 (Year 1) then £263.88/year
- Acticheck £280.00 (Year 1) then £130.00/year
All prices as at 10 May 2024
If you think the Acticheck life-saving wristband might be for you please explore the website or call us on 0345 25 75 080 for more information.
