NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

IRENE Caverly says her Home Emergency Response System has saved her lite
on three occasions. The device enables Caverly and others to live alorie with the
security that help is only a button-push away.

BRINGING
HEALTH CARE
INTO THE

Community Health Services
24 hour services include:

a Bathing & Personal Care
4 Housekeeping

HOME IS
WHERE YOU
WANT TO BE

It’s familiar, comfortable
and full of memories,
‘| people, pets and belong-
“Pings that make it special.

“9 Meal Programs
Pas ‘Home Nursing ? Adult Day Programs
Be Mentai Health Support
@ Shopping & Errands

a Child Care

a

8 Support to Persons with
Disabilities

When Caring Counts...
bec” Call Us

983-6000

Goal : £150,000

Serving the N:S
* Community Since 1963
North Shore Home Support Services
wishes to thank all those who, »
generously responded to.
their recent request oe
for donations. :
e goal this year is to raise $150, 000 towards the
of the new Adult: Day Centre.
‘o.date, the amount raised is $85,114.
"ease ‘consider making a tax deductible contribution

tot ag. and worthwhile project.

Raised ©
§85,114—

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer
“HELP me! I’ve fallen
and I can’t get up.”

It’s a line from another in
a long list of television com-
mereials whose punch lines
have crossed into everyday
consciousness,

Maybe not up there with
Nike’s “Just do it!” but cer-
tainly on a par with the fat
guy on Channel 12) who
won't be undersald.

Perhaps it has something
to do with the flat, amateur-
ish delivery.

Or, maybe, the woman in
question is not an actress at
all and is re-enact-
ing an emergency
from her own life.

Either way, it’s
not a laughing
matter for West
Vancouver — resi-
dent Irene
Caverly.

Caverly has
heart — problems
and has had to use
her Home
Emergency
Response System (HERS)
three times and says cach
time it has been a potential
life saver.

“[ had a bad fall and I
couldn’: get up,” says 84-
year-old Caverly without a
trace of irony,

In fact, Caverly had a con-
cussion and a broken foot.

“I was unconscious but
when | woke up I pressed the
button and they answered
straight away.

“The ambulance was here
in five minutes. It was won-

derful.”

The button Caverly has
carried for six years ever since
her first heart attack is a small
transmitter that, when
pressed, automatically acti-
vates a dial unit attached to
her phone.

The dial unit calls a
response centre with a coded
emergency message where a
dispatcher has immediate
voice contact, via speaker
phone, with the caller,

The dispatcher will imme-
diately call an ambulance, if
required, and then call a rela-
tive or designated responder
to give the appropriate assis-
tance.

Hillary King, Director of
Program Development for

“Caverly has heart prob-
lems and has had to use her
Home Emergency Response
System three times and says

each time it has been a
potential life saver.”

North Shore Home Support
says HERS provides security
and independence cto those
who live alone and who:
Bare frail;
& fear falling;
@ are recovering fram sur-
gery;
@ are unable to reach the
phone in an emergency.
“People want to stay
home, but many elderly peo-
ple or their families are con-
cerned how they can stay
there safely,” says King.
There are a number of
home monitoring plans for

rent in the marketplace but
HERS is the only non-profit
system on the North Shore
and is monitored locally 24
hours a day, 7 days a week,

The program currently
serves 410 subscribers with,
on average, 228 new users
requesting a home unit each
year,

Units no longer required
are returned to the office for
servicing and cleaning by vol-
unteers.

All of the equipment has
been purchased through
donations from the North
Shore community with the
result that the user only pays
a dollar a day monitoring fee.

“The local service clubs
have been particu-
larly good,” says
King.

“Whenever we've
got low on our
inventory they've
always pitched in
and we have never
run out.” 2

North — Shore
Home — Support
Services staff the
response — centre
during the day-
time, with Lions Gate’
Hospital covering from 10
p.m. until 8 a.m.

In nine months of this
year to the end of September
HERS has responded to 219
emergency calls,

By category they have
been:

B fallen ~ 85;

B unwell - 72;

B unable to transfer - 28;
@ other - 10;

B pain — 9;

@ heart problems ~9;

® shortness of breath — 5;
& choking -1.

Retirement Living
as it should be

In this frequently unsettling world, things can

change.

Plan ahead so you can continue tohave the.
freedom to choose a lifestyle that fits your style,
and the flexibility to set your own pace.

Call Tracey at 922 -7616 for a personal tour and

discover the freedom, security and quality of —
Apartment Living at Hollyburn House.

HOLLYBURN
HOUSE

Please call for more information.
2095 Marine Dr., West Vancouver

922-7616