Malfunctioning pendant alarms are putting elderly in Mayo at risk
Cllr Ger Deere raised the issue at a meeting of Mayo County Council.
Power outages are leading to numerous problems with pendant alarms and compromising the welfare and security of elderly people, a councillor has warned.
Castlebar-based Fine Gael Cllr Ger Deere raised the issue at last week’s monthly local authority meeting. Cllr Deere said he is involved with Castlebar Social Services, which rolls out the pendant alarms to elderly people. It had previously been a very effective service, but frequent power outages are leading to the devices malfunctioning.
“It is chaotic what is happening, the problems that are happening with these pendant alarms are crazy and it should not be allowed to happen."
Cllr Deere said he made the same request four years ago, but nothing happened.
“It is still chaotic what is happening,” he said, adding that pendant alarms are an essential service.
Pendant alarms can be worn as a pendant or around the wrist like a watch and if people feel threatened or insecure they can press a button to activate it and raise the alarm.
The company will then contact three emergency contacts comprising family members, friends or neighbours if they feel the person is in difficulty and needs assistance.
Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Damien Ryan had called for Eir to be asked to address the council over low-lying wires.
