Project field
Health and support
Partners
Fonium Deutschland GmbH, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (JUH), German Red Cross (DRK), pharmacies in Friedrichshafen, Deutsche Telekom
Brief description
In general, people wish to retain a high quality of life, with plenty of mobility and independence, as they age, or even if they require nursing care or incur certain medical risks. Ideally, having a high quality of life would include being prepared for emergencies, such as slip and fall accidents. And that, in turn, would mean being easy to locate in case of injury – i.e. being locatable for family members and emergency services. Fonium Deutschland GmbH has developed a system that addresses such needs: the derBUTLER® emergency call system.
Based on existing cell-phone technology, derBUTLER® can be used both indoors and outdoors. With it, users can call for assistance, simply by pressing a button, no matter where they are – at home, out for a walk or out shopping.
Along with its stationary and mobile emergency-call functionality, derBUTLER® offers a range of additional functions that enhance users' personal safety, mobility and overall quality of life. One such feature is a fall detector: when a derBUTLER® user falls when that feature has been activated, derBUTLER® automatically sends out an emergency call and establishes a voice connection to an emergency call center. And thanks to the device's automatic "no-hands" function, users can communicate with emergency response personnel even if they are unable to hold the device to their ear. In addition, the system reminds users to take their medications, can transmit vital-sign data and can monitor rooms in cases in which users do not directly respond to speech. To top it all off, derBUTLER® also serves as an easy-to-use cell phone for senior citizens.
derBUTLER® uses a three-stage location/signalling approach that has been patented throughout Europe: basic location via the mobile network, pinpointing via a direction-finding transmitter and close-in location with the help of a beeper integrated within the device itself. With such versatility, the device also supports location of persons in situations in which conventional location methods, such as GPS-based methods, would either not function or not function properly. The German Red Cross (DRK) and Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (JUH) organizations are responsible for tracking missing or injured persons in the T-City Friedrichshafen.
derBUTLER® is the only device that combines mobile and stationary emergency call functionality with telecare functions. The features combination it offers has been recommended by a group of experts, chaired by Willi Zylajew (Member of the German Bundestag, CDU/CSU Bundestag-faction spokesperson for care/nursing-care issues) and Jens Ackermann (Member of the German Bundestag, FDP Bundestag-faction spokesperson for issues relative to emergency-response services), in a report entitled "recommendations for better use of mobile emergency call and telecare services in Germany"
What is more, derBUTLER® is the first, and only, stationary / mobile emergency call device to meet the strict quality criteria set forth in the German directory of medical and nursing aids (Pflegehilfsmittelverzeichnis) and to be added to that directory by the central organization of care insurances (Spitzen¬verband der Pflegekassen) pursuant to Art. 78 SGB (Social Code) XI (No 52.40.01.1062).
Aim of the project
The aim of the project is to offer senior citizens and at-risk patients a tool that can protect their mobility and help them to continue living normal, independent lives, based in their own homes. In working toward those ends, the project partners have focused especially on enabling derBUTLER® to use an innovative new tracking system.
Benefits
derBUTLER® can offer a great deal of reassurance to both senior citizens and their family members. Wherever users happen to be, with derBUTLER® they will always be able to call for help in an emergency. The three-phase tracking system ensures that emergency services can find injured or missing persons even if they are in places where other systems don’t work – for example, in buildings or underground parking lots.
Project status
derBUTLER® is available in many pharmacies in Friedrichshafen.
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