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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?
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
Go to eBay and type "wireless panic button". There are plenty of options for under $100. Here is a panic button + watch that sends an SMS message to up to 5 numbers.
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.
An epilepsy service dog can be trained to activate an alarm, such as LifeLine. It will also position itself between her and the toddler so the toddler doesn't get hurt. Just the knowledge that the dog CAN do this for her will lower everyone's stress levels.
A lot more dependable than some cobbled-together system that relies on a toddler, and that could lead to ugly questions about negligence. While the dogs are expensive, there are organizations that pay for the training.
Next time, why not ask her doctor or the doctor's secretary?
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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.
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.
If we start down that track, we're effectively saying "people with health problems can't be mothers". Next you'll be calling social services because you saw your blind neighbour carrying her own baby. Honestly, it would be nice if we were all perfectly healthy, but some of us aren't, and that doesn't make us any less human.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'