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Ask Slashdot: Panic Button a Very Young Child Can Use
First time accepted submitter Zotonian writes My wife is epileptic. Her seizures have been well controlled by medication until recently. My concern is that we have a toddler and infant at home. I've set up cameras so I can monitor the house, but I'm looking for a solution that my 2 year old daughter can hit a button to tell me to look at them if necessary. Most of the options I'm finding off the shelf notify first responders and I'm concerned of the number of false positives a toddler might initiate. Other solutions like cellphones or wearables for kids are too overloaded with unnecessary options like GPS, phone, games, etc. I'd rather have a simple 'push button' solution I can wire into my router that would send me a text or chat message that alerts me to check the cameras. Then if there is an actually emergency I can take the steps from there. I'm looking for cheap and simple. Any suggestions from the Slashdot community?
How about a smartwatch for the wife. Make a little app the detects erratic arm movements and sends you a text message from her phone when that happens. Then you check in on the camera .
Get a trained dog instead
It's a bit heavyweight, but SmartThings has a panic button and via an IFTT integration can SMS you when it's pushed.
This product may be what you are looking for
http://bt.tn/
A big red button connected to the net that can do whatever you want
http://www.instructables.com/id/Desk-Panic-Button/?ALLSTEPS
Nobody on these forums can offer you legal advice but what you're asking sounds like a good way to get your kid taken away.
A spot messenger is fairly simple and enables you to locate them wherever they may be.
http://www.findmespot.com/en/i...
Wire it through a light switch (to an outlet) at a height your toddler can comfortably reach. Your home may already have a switchleg-activated plug for table lighting.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Try reading the content and not just the headline idiot.
Get a hub and a door/window sensor or the starter kit. Put the door / window sensor on a cabinet door and tell your daughter to open that door if mommy has a problem (you could put a teddy bear or something in there that she should take to mommy ONLY if mommy is having issues). Then, using the smart app, you can have that alert you anytime the cabinet is opened. Should be less than $150 or so and now you have the start of home automation as well.
without the otherwise requisite molly guard.
A quick google search led to this article - http://juliahgrace.com/intro-hardware-hacking-arduino.html The example from the author is a device that sends a text. Sounds like a way to avoid the false positives that might be triggered by your daughter (with a commercial device).
Two year olds are going to take naps and such. You cannot count on the two year old. You won't be very effective away at work if you are always worrying and checking in on the home situation.
You could get a seizure dog that could alert the wife that a seizure is imminent and/or the dog could alert the two year old to contact you. What happens when the wife has a seizure, does she fall down? Perhaps you could use a smart phone app with the wife, when the app is active it monitors the orientation of the phone, if your wife changes from vertical to horizontal then the app could message you. I don't know how much I would trust that but it might work. Finally, you could have another responsible individual at home, a friend, mother in law, etc. Good luck.
Comes with a 0-4G vibration sensor, can be extended with other sensors in the future if you want to repurpose it later.
You're asking for a kind of button that will make it possible to rely upon a 2-year-old child as a caretaker. This is not a technology problem, and unless someone finds a way to accelerate human development of children to an alarming rate, it's not a solvable one either. And I have to say, what you're proposing seems like an inherently risky situation...to your wife and child both. Your wife runs the risk of your not being alerted, and I can't even guess what it would do to a child to have that kind of responsibility, especially if she doesn't hit the button for whatever reason, and ends up haunted by that for the rest of your life.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Make it a device your wife can wear instead. Accelerometer, gyroscope, etc, built in and made to alert you if she has an episode. If these are even applicable, I know not all seizures are the kind where you collapse and shake. But if they are, then you can deal with some false positives from normal activity and try to fine tune it. then maybe even market your own version of such a device to others.
Been wondering lately why these devices are still push-button user-triggered things. Detecting a fall, activating a microphone and connecting to a base station to contact emergency assistance is definitely in the realm of current technology.
Maybe you can be the guy who gets that idea out of the 80's and into the modern age.
Find her a husband that has a minimum of sense.
You need someone by her, your fool! It must be some relative (find one!) or even a paid maid, nanny, whatever. Stop thinking technology can solve all problems.
IT CANNOT. It's not that it can't solve your problem, there lots and lots where you need help. People can rely sometimes on neighbors, but in your case it must be someone closer. Stopping asking obvious things here. Use your brain, maybe it starts up if you try enough...
If your life does not allow such alternatives, then get another life elsewhere. No one can function as an island. Put that into your little underpaid head!
I guess in some countries what you're asking constitutes a crime. It's that serious. Seriously, get a brain.
I assumed he is a good man but a shitty engineer, so he asked here for help from people who are good engineers but shitty human beings.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
PiSector Alarm system from Amazon >> http://www.amazon.com/Professi... Has an emergency button and you can program ANY alert to call YOU (and no one else if needed) but you can program it to call up to 6 (i think) numbers in sequence to alert you, and a monitoring service if desired. Also has all of the other sensors as a bonus, if there are places people shouldn't be going during the day, etc. Its a full wireless solution, so all of the sensors, remotes, etc don't need to be hard wired, and you can mount the emergency button somewhere the toddlers can't get to, and the 2 year old can.
It really depends upon the nature of the seizures. Rigidly locked in space or extreme spasms. So a motion detector that your wife can wear that can detect say laying on the ground rather than being vertical or detect rapid motions indicative of an attack. Greater care needs to be taken when holding the child or say cooking and how that is treated. These is also devices for detecting changes in blood pressure, breathing and pulse rate, so a more automated response is likely to be preferable, with a signal sent to you so that you can attempt contact to confirm conditions. Wiring up every room in your home with internet enable cameras might not be the safest choice in terms of security. If you really want the internet enabled video, an internet enabled bot would likely be the safest choice, aside from of course closed doors and internal versus yard access.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
I actually made a "PLAY" button on our toddler's crib that plays her favourite tunes on a standalone music player running on a RasberryPi. The button is a big arcade button and is illuminated via an LED so she can see and hit it in the dark, in case she wakes up in the middle of the night and needs help falling back asleep.
The button is connected to a GPIO input on the RaspberryPi and a simple Python script monitors the pin before launching the music player with her favourite playlist.
It was pretty simple to teach her how to use the big red button... once it as installed, I pushed the button and she immediately heard her favourite music playing in her room. I then stopped the music and let her push the button. Repeat a couple times and she understood what to do. I'm not quite sure how I would go about teaching a toddler to hit the button when mommy has a seizure though... maybe have your wife pretend she's having a seizure or fell down? I'm just not sure about the pretend part negatively affecting the training or not.
The parts can be bought relatively cheap. I bought the big red arcade button from adafruit.
Install reiserfs and forget about it.
Wouldn't an overridable motion sensor or g sensor on your wife's person be a preferable option, so sudden falls or excess of repetitive motion could trigger it, unless specifically overridden when, say, playing computer games?
I designed one that was activated by a tank filling with fluid to a certain height. It then texted the delivery guy to come take the fluid. I can't give you my solution, it was very low level and simple based on local tech, and it wasn't a neat portable thing for your toddler to carry although it could be a panic button in the middle of the house. However, any competent hacker, er, I mean local technician, should be able to rig something together like this for you. A two year old can learn a lot and be quite responsive.
How about a z-wave controller like a Vera and one of the many z-wave remote controls out there. Out the the box the vera can email and text.
Yeah, I have a suggestion. Chill the fuck out. Watch your 2 year old, and when he/she's asleep, don't worry about it.
While you can probably delay the situations with the highest risk factors (e.g. baby's bath time) until both parents are home, there's a lot of things that potentially could go wrong while unattended. For example, A sudden onset seizure could cause the wife to drop the baby, or hit her own head on the coffee table, or who knows what else. Having a way for the 2 year old to call for help on her own in such situations could make a tremendous difference
This was a reasonable question looking for help mitigating very real risks -- don't be a dick about it.
That said: perhaps the easiest way would be to have a very basic speaker phone set up somewhere with a one-push button to actually CALL dad in case of emergency. A benefit of that over a silent email/sms/whatever setup is that it could give the 2-year old instant feedback that help is coming if there really is a problem, and depending on the verbal skills of the kid dad can save precious time as well: "mom fell and isn't moving!" vs. wasting time to try to remotely view your cameras first and see what happened.
(Although a possible downside is that she may just start hitting it anytime she wants to talk to dad during office hours)
http://www.ggbutton.com/
Might not sound like a fire alarm, but it's loud enough and a toddler can use it.
Stop reflecting you own personality and at least provide a suggestion ...
There are plenty of solutions geared towards kids :
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Arrival-Kid-GPS-Children-Orange-GK301-GSM-GPRS-Individual-GPS-SOS-Free-Platform-Accurate-Tracking/32242311815.html
Sandman has some one button dialers, as "call out on off-hook" phones. Program it with the number you want it to call, and it dials when you pick it up...
I came across something like this in Toronto Eaton Center mall a few months back. I'm sure you can find these on ebay etc. http://www.uniden.com.au/australia/p_sse35_pendant_index.asp
Of course he'll probably trigger more false positives than your 2 year old and then swear there really was a problem, just to make himself look good.
Instead of relying on a two year old that may not be capable (or even napping) of understanding the implications, you do this:
Rig a system, perhaps a fairly short lanyard on your wifes non-dominant wrist that pulls a pin switch that is nearly certain to get pulled during a seizing event. Sure it is annoying, and prone to false positives, but she can cancel the false positives if she is okay.
Silence is a state of mime.
Lots of Radioshack parts on that list.
Then write an app to monitor the accelerometer. Make some noise, connect to your wifi and send a chat message of some kind. False alarm? Take the opportunity to have a conversation with your wife ;).
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
I wrote a big post but slashdot is buggy and ate it. I didn't feel like writing it again. It was essentially keyfob + receiver + Rasp Pi or whatever. Should get range typical of a garage door opener.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Freedom Alert https://www.freedomalert-911.com/ allows you to program in up to four phone numbers that the system will call. You can choose between calling the four numbers, the four numbers then 911, or just 911.
Look for something that your wife can wear that can detect a seizure.
Have it send a signal (bluetooth maybe) every 30 seconds when she is NOT having a problem.
Have your router alert you if no signal for 65 seconds.
Don't load this on to your child. 2 is too young.
But I can suggest that the best technology for this sort of thing is a stand-alone cellular modem, preferentially one that is on the same network as your cell phone. Wire the button into that and have it send a text message to your phone and to your gmail address.
There are certainly cellular modems that work over a serial link and I assume there are devices you can buy off the shelf that will integrate the whole thing into a panic button type of interface. But I haven't researched all-in-one solutions so I can't point you at one. We use cellular modem / texting for alarms and alerts for telemetry systems (replacing satellite paging systems which died out many years ago).
The message will flow through the fewest number of networks possible to reach its destination (typically just the telco's own network) and texting protocols are quite robust on the telco side. It's the most reliable solution possible. If you run the message through your home router it is likely traversing four or five completely different networks to reach its destination and that just isn't as reliable.
But frankly, still not at the level of quality needed for a serious medical condition.
-Matt
I dropped some money towards the Flic indigogo awhile back, which is a simple "one click" remote button that is tethered to a smartphone, and you program it to do anything you want... send an email, call a friend, take a photo, etc. etc. Flic.io
The single function and customizability may be what you are looking for.
read the summary again, he wants the child to be able to alert him should his WIFE who is caring for the child have a seizure.
Seriously, modded up and completely wrong.
http://www.epdetect.com an app that detects seizures and alerts carers
You're looking for the wrong thing. You want your two-year-old and a toddler to be responsible for telling you when there's an emergency?! Are you fucking nuts? The solution here is not some unreliable piece of tech based on a homebrew solution susceptible to all the failures of internet service, IP cameras, and routing equipment. The solution here is nursing care or other medical devices. You need to talk to your doctor, but a bunch of IT nerds on the internet.
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
It's a really dumb a idea to have a toddler monitor an adult :/
Put a wearable on your wife. Give it a button and a 3-axis accelerometer. If it detects normal walking/movement, all is ok. If she taps the button 5 times in a row, it goes into nap-mode and assumes little-to-no motion is ok for a while (and cancels nap-mode when she starts walking/moving again). If it detects total stillness for more than 5 minutes straight, it should beep/flash every X seconds and if she doesn't hit the button within a minute or two, send the alert. If it detects erratic seizure-like movement at any time (nap mode or not), it should send the alert.
There are technical solutions that your wife could press (if she is capable of some kind of "last action" when she feels the onset) or something that could even sensibly and automatically react to certain stimuli (like not being upright, i.e. lying on the floor, irregular heartbeat, motion sensors that can identify seizures, etc), but whatever you do, DO NOT put this burden on your kid.
You are essentially asking for something that would allow you to make your kid the caretaker of your wife. That's something you might want to consider in, say, 40 years, but most certainly NOT when the child is actually still a child! What this could lead to is what's generally known as parentification. Read the link if you want to know why that's a BAD idea.
And that's even ignoring the worst possible case: Your wife getting seriously injured and your child feeling responsible for this. I think I don't have to dig up a link for you to know why that would be damaging to your child.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I am guessing that he did not look very hard...
http://www.amazon.com/LG-Veriz...
first hit after googleing "Cellphone for a small child"
a child can easily learn that press 1 for daddy, 2 for mommy, 3 for grandma and if mommy needs help press the big red hand and tell the lady on the line our address.
Otherwise for his wife there are a TON of systems that are panic buttons designed for people who have siezures.
So, what does the question asker have against all the existing options?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
You want to connect to the router....Can we assume that you have a router with a ping monitor or a computer that can run such a thing (e.g. http://emcosoftware.com/ping-monitor). If so, take any old router or IP device, make the button remove power to said device and let the ping monitor send you an alert telling that your important device is off-line. You probably has all of this sitting at a shelf already.
This means you don't have to snoop on your family using remote cameras. Certainly you must have cameras in the bathroom just in case she seizes while taking a leak, right? And the bedroom, too (sleeping or changing clothes, not taking a leak, d'oh).
That one button will be so much better at teaching your kids about the concept of "privacy" than 24 hour video surveillance of their, and their mother's, every movement (B or otherwise).
Weak ass panzy son of a bitch parent. What are you gay or something?
Set up a rasberry pi as a webserver. Sign up for a website offline notification service that will email you/sms you when it's offline. Then give your 2 year old a bright flashlight and tell them to turn it on and flash the rasberry pi whenever they want your attention.
It's very difficult having a spouse with a chronic illness. (I know.) Even harder when you have children.
As much as it sucks, have her in child care as much as possible. Yes, it's horrifically expensive, it's not ideal, it's not what you envisioned (I assume, as much as you want to let her stay home with mom). But it makes sense.
If it's your wife that you are primarily worried about, then you need to figure out what can help her. Can a neighbor check on her fairly frequently? Another family member? Also, I've seen devices advertised (primarily to elderly) which claim to be able to detect falls.
For both - child and wife - check with local social workers about what is available. You may be eligible for subsidized child care due to the situation. Your wife may be eligible for some kinds of help.
Hang in there, and don't be ashamed to reach out for help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_dog
I wrote a big post but slashdot is buggy and ate it. I didn't feel like writing it again.
Pro-tip: When posting to Slashdot, or any other website, write your post in an off-line text editor, then cut-and-paste it into the textarea. That way if their buggy JavaScript, or you fat fingers, delete it, you can just re-paste.
Obviously _YOU_ did not read TFA. TFA is only the summary, so let me quote and highlight the relevant portions for you.
My wife is epileptic. Her seizures have been well controlled by medication until recently . My concern is that we have a toddler and infant at home. I've set up cameras so I can monitor the house, but I'm looking for a solution that my 2 year old daughter can hit a button to tell me to look at them if necessary.
Good grief man, if your wife is having episodes get another ADULT into the house! It is completely irresponsible for you to put that weight on a TWO YEAR OLD! Cameras or no cameras, your response time is not sufficient. Assuming your two year old hits the button who is going to comfort the two year old and get her out of harms way if your wife has a violent seizure? How are you going to deal with the trauma and guilt that kid is going to feel if something bad happens? Even if they hit the button that trauma will be there!
Don't worry, I'm absolutely disgusted that you would put your wife in that predicament as well. This is absolutely horrifying no matter how I try to consider your supposed dilemma. I say "supposed" because I really hope this is a gag, but it sure seems like you are serious and it's not April 1st yet.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
You can do this on a Mac easily enough, even easier on Windows. Let's presume Windows:
Buy a USB "big red button" on Ebay for a few bucks. Not the "easy" kind, just the plain button. Plug it in to your computer, install the software that lets you script what the button does.
Subscribe to one of those services that will send an SMS from your PC.
Do a few minutes of scripting to get the button to send an SMS to your phone.
Program your phone -- also pretty easy -- to blast an alarm when it gets that particular SMS.
Job done. Cost: maybe $5.
In addition to what you're looking for maybe an app that tries to detect seizures as well?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rd.epdetect&hl=en
There are plenty of agencies that can help! Reach out to one, or many, of those. Don't ask for bullshit solutions to a problem that puts a 2 year old into this type of situation.
Why are YOU defending such shitty actions? Think really long and hard about that, because that make you just as big of an idiot as person who made the original post.
I'm glad he wants to work for a living, society needs people to be responsible. His first responsibility as a parent is that 2 year old Daughter.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Your epileptic wife is having attacks, and you want a TWO year old to be not only alone in that situation, but responsible for a panic button? Dude, you are sick and need to get a frickin clue. Fast! Someone should seriously turn you in for child endangerment bordering on abuse!
Yeah, I honestly had to consider whether or not this was an early April fools gag...
You seem to have misread his situation, it's not that he *wants* that situation, it's a situation he wants to avoid. Yet, he also wants to prepare for it.
How about a one-button waterproof cell phone?
I've read about phones where you program which number the phone calls, but I can't find any now. Maybe they are no longer sold.
But here's a phone that calls some sort of operator, who can then decide how to handle the situation. You need to pay a monthly fee for the operator but I think that's better for a 2-year-old than a phone that just dials 911.
http://www.greatcall.com/products/greatcall-splash
If you could find a 1-button programmable phone, and program it to call you, that might be ideal.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I kept it for a while, because it seemed like /. happily accepted it. First time that has happened to me in a decade on slashdot. It makes me sad.
And thanks, but let's not assume my posts are really worth saving :)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=senior%20fall%20detector&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&ix=sea&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1438&bih=779&cad=h
I don't recall which we pay for, perhaps 35 USD per month, my 95 year old father in law carries it everywhere. If, not when, he falls, an operated lights up the speaker phone function and GPS, polity asks if everything is OK, if nor OK, they call my wife, brother in law, then EMS if necessary. They field a LOT of false alerts, which is all good, their staff are simply awesome and caring.
Epileptic people do not have the same seizure every time, severity ranges and is NOT PREDICTABLE!
Read a couple of my other responses in the thread. Defending this person is lunacy.
Your questions are absolutely not relevant! This is not a person that "may" have an accident, this is a person with a medical condition that causes seizures. The later is KNOWN, it is well documented, it is well researched. Pulling some bullshit out of your ass about "well someone could fall down" does not do away with facts.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Clearly OP has a less than ideal situation, but additional data vectors (child or not) are always good. 24x7 at home nursing care is prohibitively expensive to all but the five richest kings on earth. Do you have a constructive solution?
Mod parent troll or flame bait.
/* MAGIC THEATRE
ENTRANCE NOT FOR EVERYBODY
MADMEN ONLY */
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/can-this-big-red-button-really-do-it-all/
Set up an application/device that requires your wife to confirm that she's okay every n minutes. If she fails to confirm, it alerts you.
http://www.usbbutton.com/
Sounds like you always assume the best in people and can't see the whole equation played out. Optimism is good, but in this case there is a 2 year old in the equation that seems to be constantly overlooked in this thread. Web cams don't make good baby sitters, in fact I'd be curious to know if he would be guilty of a crime if something was to happen to his wife given he knew the current medial needs of her.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
My wife is epileptic. Her seizures have been well controlled by medication until recently
An infant, a toddler, and mother whose seizures are no longer under control.
There are no technical solutions for a problem like this.
You can not and must not ask a two year old to be caretaker for her mom. She is not there as a backup for your webcams or to care for your baby. This is a huge red flag for child protection services.
What you need is are licensed home care aides or nurses, with full time coverage when you absent from the home. If you want to avoid institutionalization for your wife and kids this is your only option.
Epileptics are fine most of the time, particularly if they control their seizures with medication.
But her seizures aren't under control. It's there in the first line of his post.
Have the wife press the button, be alerted by a system when she doesn't after a certain interval.
The dog will warn your wife when the symptoms of a seizure are about to come on. This will give her enough time to act to ensure her safety & even call for help. Yes, ADA dogs are pricey, but since you post here, I am going to guess you can afford one to keep your wife safe. Plus it will make a good playmate for your 2 year old.
Sometimes the old solution that just works, is the best solution.
Original poster, on a different computer and having trouble logging in, on /. that never happens right?
Ok, I've been a long time reader, so I should have known better, but I was trying to keep it short and sweet and was still reeling from the experience of NOT BEING THERE when my wife unexpectedly had her first seizure in more than NINE YEARS. Yes, I got complacent. She had been well controlled on medication with no incidence of any type for that long. Her doctors had even been talking of trying to take her off medication. Everything is rainbows and puppy dogs right?
So some points of clarification. First, I would never expect her to be a caretaker for my wife, the point is for her to be able to summon help if SHE needs it. To the people commenting about the guilt she would feel being responsible....what about what happens if she's stuck in the situation with no way to summon help? Teaching your children what to do in case of a fire doesn't mean you are making them responsible for fire fighting.
Second, the cameras I installed have motion and noise threshold alerts, so I get automatic notification from them. I'm sure that if something happened, there'd be a lot of noise or motion from screaming kids. Kids also spend a lot of time just generally being noisy and in motion, so again a lot of false positives. It's not a matter of it being the only alert, it's more a matter of making sure my daughter is empowered on what to do if something goes wrong and offers that extra level of notification if something happens out of range of the sensors. The cameras also have two way communication so I can talk to my daughter and hear what's going on.
Third, this is not the only solution in place. We have neighbors, friends and family who check in regularly and I expect that will greatly increase since this episode. But that doesn't guarantee that someone is going to be there when an episode occurs, or even that they would arrive in a short period of time. Again, I'm trying to prepare for worst case scenarios.
Some of you have offered some great solutions that I can look into and I appreciate it. Some of the solutions that don't work and why:
Any type of cellphone solution: My wife has a cell phone and my daughter loves to play with it and already knows how to dial 911, its really easy on any cell phone even with the screen locked, trust me, I've had a number of conversations with the local 911 center - hence the false positives I'm trying to avoid.
Life alert or "I've fallen and I can't get up" solution - doesn't work if my wife is unable to activate it. Wouldn't want my daughter trying to climb on mommy to hit it if she's flopping around on the floor, as others here have suggested, that's not a great idea. Cell phone poses the same problem if it's in mommy's hand. That's why I was thinking big red button in a stationary accessible place. Hardwired so it's not dependent on cell signal which can be spotty here.
Day care or private nursing is not an option unless someone else is footing the bill. Day care is not even a money problem, it's more a problem of "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't." A seizure is something you can plan for and come up with options. Day care has a hell of a lot more unsavory potential variables. Read the news sometime. Service dog is certainly an option and I've already been in contact with a place that provides them, but it's not like you make a call and they bring you a dog. I'm looking for something I can put in place NOW until the other options are available.
Thanks for the suggestions from those that offered them. I've spent a lot of time considering all the options and alternatives, but I know enough to know I don't know it all, that's why I asked the question.
I think it is you that have misread the summary. I think the "until recently" is the real deal
breaker for me. If his wife was epileptic but had things under control then having a panic button
for the kid and/or a sensor for the wife makes sense but only in the same way it makes sense to
teach a kid to dial 911 in a fire. If she is having frequent episodes then there probably needs to be
someone else present in the house.
If you've got some simple electronics knowledge, you could use one of these wifi modules: http://rayshobby.net/first-imp...
$3, wire up a switch, and write some software to monitor it. You could use one to make an accelerometer monitor for your wife too.
I am not the US Department of Social Services, and if GP has time to make a few Slashdot posts he sure as hell can call them.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Hi, I'm actually developing a launcher app for people with intellectual disabilities so I've looked at the ones out there and you could definitely use one that allows you to customize the launcher so it just has an icon to call or text you. It's also a cost effective situation if you have a spare phone at home, you could set it up for almost nothing. Hope that helps :)
Have your wife wear a device that monitors her motion. I'm pretty confident the patterns could be analysed and "danger zone" data result in a message. If I've thought of it, I bet someone else has already and such a thing may already exist... there's an app for that? Or did I just give a million dollar idea away?
True. And a few other things.
People keep mentioning. "Why don't you have the kid run next door to the neighbor and get them to get help?" Last time I checked, if they're smart (and independent) enough to go next door for help, they're more than capable of hitting a panic button. Secondly, hitting a panic button, dad checking the cameras, and dad reacting, is all probably going to happen a lot faster than kid running next door, kid ringing door bell, talking to neighbor, neighbor coming over, neighbor deciding what to do.
On the same token, the panic button ->dad ->calls neighbour chain would likely get the nearest adult to the scene a lot faster than having the kid heading outside. Safer, too. Much better to have the kid inside with an epileptic than outside running around in a panic. What if the nearest "friendly" house is their friend's house across the street? In a panic the kid's not going to be looking both ways.
From the sounds of things, his wife is perfectly capable of taking care of things 95% of the time. If she was having daily seizures, he probably wouldn't be leaving the house. You don't need live-in care for something that may well only happen once a week or less. Instead of viewing this as an attempt at delegating all caretaking responsibility to the kid, think of it as establishing multiple fail-safes.
We know he's got bunch of cameras that he watches on a regular basis (but not continuous). Given that he's technically inclined, and that, from what I gather, many people with epileptic seizures can recognize onset symptoms, (not all sufferers, definitely not all the time, but at least sometimes) there's probably decent chances that they've rigged up something that the mother could use herself. Maybe just a speed dial, but possibly other things. If not, then the various ideas of using exercise bands and accelerometers might make a very good layer of redundancy there, too.
Personally, the idea of having a sensor-rigged cupboard with a big stuffed animal in it, and telling the kid to take mom the stuffed animal when she's in trouble sounds like a great idea too. Great padding to have between an epileptic and any potentially hard surfaces, although unlikely a kid would be placing it optimally.
Frankly, giving one's kid a panic button that sends a message to Dad seems like a really good thing to have, no matter what the situation at home is. Honestly, it isn't exactly that rare of an occurrence for the sole responsible adult at home to have some kind of accident where it would be *very* useful for the kid to have some way of summoning a responsible 3rd party, whether it be a neighbour or relative or whatever.
Lastly, just because he hasn't laid out every last precaution and detail of his family's life is no reason to assume that they're being negligent, that she's having daily severe seizures, or that they're pinning all their hopes of safety on the kid. We don't need to know all that. He simply asked for advice on a single, specific solution to a specific element of his situation. Let's help him out on that, shall we?
Some quick links that a google search turned up:
First one is an instructables video, the last two are commercial options, one for phone software, the second for an actual device.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Desk-Panic-Button/
http://www.blacklinesafety.com/solutions/loner-mobile/
https://www.alarmgrid.com/products/honeywell-5802wxt
Z
Having a way for the 2 year old to call for help on her own in such situations could make a tremendous difference
Unless of course it is the two year who gets hurt when Mom has a seizure.
Her seizures aren't under control. That is in the first line of the post. Once you admit that, you need to go with a care plan approved by her doctor, and the pediatrician who cares for your kids.
There can be nothing harder in the world.
A raspberry Pi could easly be setup to send a text message if a button is pressed, mine listens to the alarm system and sets off strobes to let my deaf wife know if someone has come into the house or if a fire alarm has gone off. it will also text my son if the alarm is set off while we are not home.
Probably be 40 or 50 dollars.
To answer your technical question minus the classic /. judgement I second @klek in suggesting Flic.io.
It sounds like it will do exactly what you're looking for.
Unfortunately they're still in development but it sounds like exactly what you're looking for.
In theory, theory always works in practice. In practice, theory rarely works. <><
Perhaps your wife could wear some sort of device (bracelet, etc) that itself would be capable of detecting that she was having a seizure, that could be setup to trigger whatever notifications were desired. Here are a few things I found alone these lines:
http://www.epdetect.com/
http://www.healthline.com/heal...
http://www.gizmag.com/embrace-...
I'd get a raspberry pi, and write some code to use one of its GPIO pins as an input. (which would then send your chat/text/email message, etc)
Then you can connect whatever kind of button or switch to it that you find most appropriate for your toddler to puch.
It's your wife and children you're talking about, look for the best solution, even if expensive and complex. It will not be worse than all the cameras you already set up.
A hydracontrolfreak box with a Phidget and a big panic button. The HCF can read the video in a loop and mail you a link to the video except at the time the button was pressed. It can also trigger prowl, boxcar whatever other alerts you want, but if you use a hotmail account you will get a push notification anyway.
I read that as: there was probably a recent event that now causes him to doubt or worry that the condition might not be fully under control.
So it could be a useful thing to have a panic button available to the child, but surely there should be a panic button available to the wife as well.
Also, my greatest concern would be that the panic button fail, so it should be quite reliable and not solely dependent on an internet connection.
I'm not sure why the author thinks it should not contact first responders.
I say rubbish.... the buttons should set off an alarm, and a monitoring company should attempt to make immediate contact with the wife; if no response, then start making a phone call to all the emergency contacts.
>Pro-tip: When posting to Slashdot, or any other website, write your post in an off-line text editor, then cut-and-paste it into the textarea. That way if their buggy JavaScript, or you fat fingers, delete it, you can just re-paste.
OR you could just install Lazarus and let technology handle the grunt work for you.
http://getlazarus.com/
Purchase a security system (ie Burglar alarm) which has GSM dialout and 24 hour panic button facility. Make sure the system has a standard input for the panic - you don't want one of those silly systems which puts "panic button facility" on the label, and then expects you to push two keys on a keypad. Wire up a simple pushbutton which you can buy at radio shack if you are extremely quick. You may have to put an End-Of-Line resistor across the switch - consult someone who knows if that is the case. The rest is pretty straightforward. (GSM dialout means it calls your mobile/cell, 24 hour panic means a button which will send a signal even when the alarm is disarmed)
I had epilepsy for 30 years, about one seizure every two weeks, before finally getting brain surgery last year. The seizures were deeply hallucinogenic, physically severe, often lasted 10-20 minutes, and they left me with a huge hangover; afterwards I had to sleep about 12-18 hours in one go, maybe wake up for maybe four hours, then go back to sleep for another 12-18 hour stretch. I was like my brain was rebooting like Windows after a blue screen. If I wasn't able to sleep, I would become really sick, get intense migraines, and start throwing up, and recovery took several days longer.
A big problem was people instantly making 911 calls. I was routinely being dragged off to an ER all the time, waking up in one at least once a month. They all knew me there, and realized after a while what the deal was, so I would be wheeled into a corner and left behind a curtain while they tended to more serious cases. I had to wait there for hours staring up at fluorescent lights and struggling to keep from vomiting and choking to death (since they liked to strap me on the bed face up). It usually took six to ten hours to get out of there- I had to wait for the lab to finish their ritual of drug assays for PCP, LSD, THC, cocaine, methamphetamine, and all kinds of other shit that they knew were going to come back negative. And this was before the ACA, so with a huge preexisting condition I couldn't get insurance from anybody, and had to pay out of pocket costs for meds which I couldn't afford half the time because this shit made it hard to get a job in the first place. When seizures came, I had about ten second warning from a visual aura. If I was outside I would quickly jump underneath nearby bushes or hide behind parked cars just so no one would see me and call the ER. I would wake up and stagger home bleeding, getting lost, and trying to stay out of sight. I did have a bracelet that said DO NOT CALL 911, along with my wife's number, but no one ever took it seriously. I wanted her to know so she could come pick me up, but I always wound up in the jaws of an ER instead.
Don't assume this guy and his wife want a 2 year old calling 911. That may be the last thing they need. I can see why he would want to know, right away. He's lived with her and is going to be better equipped to handle her than the paramedics will. if they can't get any clues from a toddler, the emergency responders have to figure out what's going on themselves, and that makes it a painful mess. There isn't a lot that an ER can do with a seizure anyway except strap the person down so they don't thrash around and get bruises. There's always the possibility of status epilepticus (which I've had many times) but you should wait until a seizure lasts for more than five minutes. They look scary, maybe like the person is dying, and of course there's the danger of thrashing around and hitting things. But in general a seizure doesn't do any lasting damage to the brain.
The problem isn't that I failed to read the summary, it's that you failed to comprehend the summary.
A camera is a method of monitoring - it is not a system for providing notification. These are two very different functions. (Something I would have thought Slashdot would grasp intuitively.)
It is, you should try it sometime.
You're a complete retard. And I use that term in the nicest possible way to describe an asshole with a low IQ.
All your solutions require dependence in the kindness of strangers, or money. Money this guy may not have, and kindness he has no right to expect (eg an athiest walks into an church and asks for permanent long term health from an organization with diametrically opposed values... That'll end well).
And its "au pair" you ignorant shitbucket.
Hey, I don't have an answer to your question but I just wanted to say don't mind the fucking morons that think they know better. It's so obvious that most of them don't even have kids.
Isn't there some kind of smart watch/sensor that your wife could be wearing? Maybe something that can detect if she falls down (does she fall down when she has her episodes?).
Hi, there's Cellphones designed for elderly people and many of those have a nice red panic button. The one I bought for my mum can be configured to call a number of arbitrary numbers one after another until it gets a connection and send a text as well.
Take the child out of the equation. Get your wife to wear a compact mobile phone that is dialled-activated by a mercury switch-so that when she falls over/goes horizontal you are called instantly-maybe on loudspeaker or camera on mode.
The PiSector system I recommended before, you plug it in, configure it and its done. So many of you idiots are either bitching about his situation, or giving him several day (if not week) projects that he may never be able to get to work. Don't you think he has enough on his hands already?
You... do know that epileptic seizures are in most cases non fatal. As in the initial position is most important. It happens suddenly, when you hit a chair, table, whatever, you could get (seriously) injured. Everything after that depends very much on the length of the seizure and how quickly one regains consciousness. You simply can not call the hospital every time it happens. I am an emergency response officer (damn that sounds cocky in English) and first rule during an epileptic seizure is when you recognize it (the person should make it known they are epileptic) and help them to the ground. If you have the time push away anything that might hurt them (sharp objects, furniture). Ideally you drag them to a 3 meter radius free spot. Remember though. You will probably will be to late in most cases. And just FORGET anything about trying to stop the shaking or help someone in anyway (NO you do not force ANYTHING in to their mouths. The force of the bite is so great they can shatter teeth or the object you embed adding shrapnel of debris to the whole mix). This is a neurological condition that either stops by itself or can be negated with special medicine only a doctor can prescribe (dependent on the type of epilepsy) and carried by the person so they can instruct people to help them out with this. The most important is the aftermath. - If it is the first time and it is an unknown condition to this person: ambulance or at least off to the hospital with them. - If shaking takes more then 10 minutes or the person does not regain conscious within that time period. Call the ambulance (just in case). - Check if the person is breathing. Which I hopefully don't need to explain why and what you need to do. Everyone even a toddler can just raise the 'I think something is wrong' alarm. The point is; not a whole lot of things can accurately trigger on a seizure. As far as I know you heart rhythm doesn't even have to be affected. And the 'flailing' can't easily be found by the watch. If you are laying on your arm while having the seizure that's the only limb that will not move. While under normal circumstances you might flick your wrist and set off an alarm. People in your neighborhood are your best friend. Always, period. When you wake up you feel like you walked the marathon. Everything hurts, you feel disoriented (in most cases) and are prone to feel 'alien' as you have been 'gone' for X minutes. Yes I think a button is the right choice for given use case.
Adding newlines doesn't do a whole lot on this site does it? And editing my post after I made is probably also a 'to advance' feature? Or is it my fault for still using the 'legacy' option?
I have epilepsy. Sorry to be hard, but if you apply the "Worst case analysis" that engineers use, all your wearables / toddlers / gimmicks are trash. Is your toddler going to pull your patient wife off the cooker that's setting her on fire? Stop her bleeding? Decide when to ring for medical help?
Most epileptics know when they have issues coming. If your wife does, have an effective strategy to deal with that. If not, rethink your career. Can you take less money and work from home? Cut some deal with your boss? Take less money and work nearer home?
There is also a little known perscription drug called Epistatus. It never seems to get approval, but is available on perscription. It is absorbed through the cheek, and can be administered while unconscious. There's a youtube video.
I hear a lot of YOUR opinions, but nothing of your wife's opinions. What does she want you to do?
Found the the Ekahau W4 Wristband Tag.
The watch could be worn by mom but pressed by the kid. I liked the alarm on a door with a Teddy Bear inside is a most EXCELLENT solution in my opinion..
If your wife has an aura - she could always press a wearable button. If she tends to collapse - a tilt switch works too.
Good luck. Issue could happen to any caregiver.
Roll your own app on an old iPhone/iPod/iPad. Use iOS's triple home button press (aka Guided Access - http://support.apple.com/en-us...) to lock the iDevice to the one app.
That button press can do anything from sending an e-mail to a tweet to your own custom web service (automatic SMS and phone calls are out if you stick to official iOS APIs).
This solution is so easy for technically and non-technically savvy folks. Get the bttn, create an IFTTT account, link your bttn and get a SMS, phone call, email, etc when the button is pressed. Then you can couple that with a Homeboy camera to auto-record video or, in this case, maybe that action would prompt the dad to log into his Dropcams he has around the house and assess the situation. Easy, done.
You may want to look into getting a dog. They're more reliable than a 2 year old with a panic button. I get what you're thinking and it's good that you want to watch out for your family, but, I think a proactive approach may be wiser here.
I read about these guys, it may be something you want to look into. These dogs have the ability to detect a seizure is coming before it happens.
http://www.epilepsy.com/get-he...
>> Any suggestions from the Slashdot community?
what you appear to need is a shrink ...
Remove all your cameras and chill out.
When your wife has a seizure, does she fall to a horizontal position? if so you may be able to use a man down type tilt sensor on her waistband or upper arm. It would seem a simple tilt switch oriented properly could sense when a person has fallen. Man, I'd hate to make a 2 year old responsible for mommy.... if something went wrong (ie *really* wrong), it could do emotional harm to the child.... the guilt of knowing you didn't do what you were supposed to to save mommy for example. Tough spot.... de ai4px
Hello, I am living in france and my mobile phone provider is "Free" (the brand www.free.fr). Among the included services, I have the possibility to send myself SMS from any computer for free (no charge). The api is very simple: curl -k "https://smsapi.free-mobile.fr/sendmsg?user=108xxxx&pass=J2xxxxx&msg=Je%20Rentre%20!"
Your wife is surely not the only parent who has siezures.
Surely there's more comprehensive advice available from organisation that actually know the first thing about this than Slashdot.
This might be useful when it's released:
https://www.empatica.com/product-embrace
Look on-line for places that sell the same kind of fire/burgler alarms that are usually installed by alarm companies to homeowners. Personally, I bought an "ELK M1" along with a receiver that picks up signals from the Honeywell/Ademco alarm sensors and panic buttons. The programming model for these is a bit arcane, but they are rugged and reliable.
You can set up a smoke detector to automatically call a monitoring center (less than $10/month) and have them send the fire department and you can similarly use all of the standard burgler or adult-panic-button features to call police and medical help. This is all very configurable.
For your child, you can program the child's "look at me" button as a "Non Alarm Zone" so that it doesn't trigger the alarm immediately but causes the system to call you (or text you or email you) or take whatever additional action you want. (In my case, I also added a Universal Devices controller that does even more automation stuff).
You also may consider having the child's button trigger an actual panic alarm after buzzing for a while in the house. So, if the child hits the button and neither you nor your wife cancel it, professional help would be called.
Many of these systems are very configurable and a good monitoring center can have special instructions for different alarms (call house, then call you, then call help). They are a pain to program (designed for non-programmers) but surprisingly flexible.
Maybe a Panic Button is too abstract, but a year ago I saw somewhere a WiFi enabled Plush Toy that a kid could press to send (and receive) a message to an absent parent anywhere on the net.
I guess that a device like this could be used even before a kid can clearly speak and the kid would be used to it being a means of contacting daddy.
Lucal church volunteering? Perhaps you should adapt your response to reality. Most local communities are to busy trying to pay rent, food and school fees to volunteer solving other people's problems.
For most people on planet earth there are only two options: Pay for it or do it yourself. And as most people are unable to do the first.... well you get the idea....
I have an approach that I will recommend, but with the caveat that I think this will get mixed reviews from the crowd at Slashdot. I have used this myself when I had to work and was also caring for a very seriously ill person. If you have some technical skills, it will help you in setting up such a system.
You can set up IP cameras within the house, and set up port forwarding on your router so you can watch inside your home from either your cell phone or computer at work.
I will agree in advance with the cautions that will be raised - privacy issues, and security issues. Most web cams are not very secure by their design.
Note that many cameras (e.g. FOSCAM FI8918 or similar) include or can be fitted with both microphone and speaker capabilities for use with software clients (for windows,android,etc) to allow you to listen in and be speak over the camera without the person at the other end needing to press any buttons.. In an emergency, this could be a valuable feature.
Steps to towards this in approach include:
just setting up one camera in a (common) room to start. Configure the camera to be operational during certain times of the day you will be away (many most cameras support this). You may want to have the cameras unplugged until you and your wife are up in the morning, and unplug them when you get home at night.
Check logs regularly to ensure the camera isn't being manipulated by an outsider. When practical, set up a VPN capability to tunnel in so this isn't an issue.
Build up the camera system once you have it functioning by adding additional cameras to additional rooms: Kitchen,living room, etc.
I recommend cameras supporting Pan-Tilt (and zoom) to provide additional coverage and flexibility.
This may not be everyone's idea of an ideal solution, but it can serve its purpose. You may wish to discuss it or a variation of this with your wife.
You will be able to check on things in the house regularly and know that all is well, or see that there is an issue.
Good luck and I hope this helps...
Rather than looking for a panic button for a young child, you might be better off looking into a wearable biometric device like the BodyTel (http://www.techweb.com/news/240012613/10-wearable-health-tech-devices-to-watch.html). Having such a panic button is a big responsibility for a very young child, and it might cause them a lot of stress. An automated system that monitors your life's condition and transmits information to medical personnel is probably a better solution.
I see no mention of whether the person has or does not have a landline or VOIP phone, but here is a possible solution: http://www.vtechphones.com/pro... It is a phone that can be programmed to have hotbuttons. Some of the buttons can even have pictures inserted behind the button so an ailing parent or small child can simply push a button and the phone then dials the corresponding number. That number can be 911, a parent, etc... It also has a panic button dongle that can be worn and used in case of emergency. Good luck. That is a tough situation.
Nope.
Regular old new lines work just fine.
Dunno what happened to your post.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
The day I got my Beaglebone Black I connected an arcade button to it to test the GPIO with the onboard LEDs. Took only a moment to set up and when the button is pressed the LED lights up. Scripting an event to contact you when the button is pressed would be trivial, and it can also host an additional on-board cam for you, among other things.
I'm sure a local church would have people that may volunteer,
No there aren't. Most churches are stretched thin as it is. Very few could provide in home personnel for 40+ hours a week to someone who's dying. Even fewer even offer daycare facilities, much less in-home daycare.
I'm sure there are foundations he could apply for assistance with
Even the poor and seriously ill have trouble finding anyone to provide them care in this country. The few non-profits that offer this kind of assistance are already overwhelmed. They can't provide enough care for the seriously ill poor, much less for a middle-class guy whose wife has occasional epileptic attacks.
how about a Ou pair or exchange student?
Even at minimum wage for 40 hours week--that's about $1,200 a month. Pretty major cost for someone whose spouse already isn't working. Even I couldn't afford that easily, and I make significantly more than most.
Going on Government aid
WTF government aid are you TALKING about? You think the government provides free full-time nanny service for epileptics? Hell, they don't even provide free drugs for them.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Some of you guys and gals are being way to rough on this man. He obviously cares about his wife and kid enough to risk asking his question here, but damn, give this guy a break. While the panic button may not be a great idea at least he is thinking about solutions for what is a tough situation. I appreciate those of you who have offered suggestions of a wearable for his wife, a service dog and additionally a panic button for his child.
...I'm just a "Panic Button" gadgeteer startupper looking for free technical advices!
Problem solved.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Get a cheap wireless doorbell, give the child the button, put the bell near you.
315MHz Universal Gate Garage Door Opener Remote Control + Transmitter
http://www.eachbuyer.com/315mhz-gate-garage-door-opener-remote-control-transmitter-p13844.html
At Sale: $8.10 cheap enough to play with and adapt to your need.
Is it negligent to send my boy to visit Grandma for the day? Because, after all, she is older and more prone to having a medical emergency.....and I know she is older, I can't claim I had no idea.
Is it negligent for me to drive my boy to visit Grandma for the day? Because, after all, the guy in the car next to me may have a heart attack and crash into my car.
I remember reading about a smartphone app. for people to monitor their elderly parents that would monitor an individual for being inactive for x amount of time and then sending a text to someone to check on them if x time elapsed. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the app.(I'm sure you can Google it) but it sounds like it might be a possible solution for you.
Good luck.
Motorola has an app available titled Alert. Buy a cheap android phone that will support it, plug it in, and make this app the only thing on the screen (or just always up and available). So your toddler would only need to hit the power button, then hit that one app, and the big red emergency button, and it can be set to only text you. This will address the false positives, simple, and relatively cheap.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.motorola.bodyguard&hl=en
I would get an esp8266 (banggood.com $5) and an arduino nano. You can build a little sealed box with just a single switch and a LED on the outside. Kid flicks the switch, the light comes on and they know Daddy will look at the webcams. I'm happy to help you with the arduino code if you choose to do this.
Given the wording from the submitter and his follow up (anonymous) post, I am assuming the worst. With the information at hand, I believe my assumption is fair.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
I have looked into something similar. We ended up getting a medic alert type service. The person with the medical issue wears a FOB that can detect falls etc. It also has a PANIC button on it that can be pressed by that person and or someone else (aka, the little one). There is also an device similar to a speaker phone, also with a big panic button, that you place centrally in the house. When a panic button or a fall sensor is tripped they call the speakerphone and attempt to contact the person. IF they can not verify the person if OK, they can perform whatever action you have provided them beforehand. Call the husband, if you can reach, call the neighbor, if you can reach, call 911. Etc The advantage to this setup is their is human intervention that can continue acting until the situation is resolved. A pure technology solution may fail silently.
Go to RatShack buy a large button, wire it into an autodialer that uses your landline to dial you and possibly someone else. This way you could say have a neighbor, friend or family member notified as well.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
How about one of those devices designed for seniors ("fell and can't get up" call device) -- I gather some connect directly to 911, others to a preset phone number. They're designed for a person possibly incapacitated who only has enough remaining steam to push a button. Basically they're single-function cell phones.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I've not used the product myself, but what about
http://www.vsnmobil.com/products/v-alrt
Single push button for the child, needs a smartphone to pick up local signal and SMS you to look at your webcam.
I don't know if the range may be a problem.
PS Can't someone ask a valid question on Slashdot without being abused?