Have you had any experience with the medical alert system in the US?

Interesting question.

My grandma had one and my aunt now has one. They had to have a landline phone to have one, I remember that much. Both my relatives lived in buildings that had doormen so getting into their apartment was not an issue. Someone who lives in a house the situation is totally different.

I would guess in an emergency you don’t worry if they have to break in a door, but realky who would want that? Maybe the emergency service can be told who has a key? A neighbor? And, the service can call the neighbor to go open the door? Let us know what they say, I am interested to know how they handle this sort of thing.

My mil lives in a retirement home that has this. Unfortunately there was a dead zone in her kitchen and that’s where she fell.
In her case building security goes to her apartment if it is activated or if she doesn’t walk past a sensor in the hall by 10:am. They fixed the dead zone and it works great now. She has had to use it more than once.

I have but it was site-specific.

My mother lived in a staged community in her own apartment. She wore a medical-alert button on a chain around her neck. If pushed, the button rang in the nurse’s station.

When she had a massive stroke, she had just enough time to push the button.The nurse called my mother and when she didn’t pick up the phone, the nurse called an ambulance. The nurses had keys to the apartments. The ambulance was there within ten minutes and got my mother to the ER; by then she was brain-dead, but at least not lying alone in bed where she wouldn’t have been normally found for several more hours.

Flor the more general alert systems, there are arrangements made about keys and access, at least in my area.

If I did it, it would be simple. I never leave any doors locked.

My mom had one and we had to leave a key hidden outside. They were told where and it was written in their instructions. She used it once, but was able to call my brother too, so he got there before the ambulance. I’m not sure how it would’ve worked otherwise.