Ed Koch, the former New York City mayor famous for his line “How am I doin’?”, is doin’ just fine after activating his Life Alert medical alarm by mistake. Although it was a false alarm, Life Alert sent help quickly. “To the consternation of my enemies, I’m still alive,” he told the New York Daily News. New York magazine praised the Life Alert service, saying that “real people use it, and it totally works.”
(August 7, 2008 – Los Angeles, CA) Life Alert Emergency Response, famous for protecting its members round the clock, works just as hard to protect its members’ personal data. Life Alert’s nationwide subscriber base includes celebrities and high profile people, who trust Life Alert to maintain their privacy and keep their information secure, as the company does for all of its members. Life Alert does not divulge incidents to the media or to its employees -- one of the reasons why thousands of people, famous or not, rely on the company’s 24/7 protection.
However, the media sometimes finds out about incidents involving Life Alert members from other sources. This week, the New York Daily News reported that former New York City Mayor and Life Alert member Ed Koch “set off an emergency scare … when he accidentally triggered his Life Alert pendant.” The incident occurred August 4 just after 11pm. The paper’s website said Koch “was asleep in his Greenwich Village apartment when he accidentally set off” his help button. When a Life Alert member’s button is activated, a dispatcher attempts to talk with the subscriber over their Life Alert unit or their phone. If no contact can be made, the dispatcher sends help automatically, as was done for Mr. Koch.
Life Alert not only sent help to the ex-Mayor, but also contacted one of his relatives and his doorman in order to alert them of Koch’s situation. Contacting friends, family and neighbors is one of Life Alert’s many advantages over calling 911 directly.
Fire personnel and an emergency medical team quickly showed up at Mr. Koch’s building. The doorman informed them that Mr. Koch was fine and the situation was a false alarm. Still, a final step was needed to make sure Life Alert’s member was safe. "They said, 'We gotta check it.' So they came upstairs and they saw me in the flesh, literally," said Koch, laughing. "I thanked them and they went back to the station."
Fortunately, the ex-Mayor -- famous for his trademark line “How am I doin’?” -- was doin’ just fine. "To the consternation of my enemies, I'm still alive," Koch told the Daily News. But New York magazine saw the bigger picture, pointing out that “to the consternation of all those punk kids out there who grew up making fun of Life Alert, real people use it, and it totally works.”
About Life Alert
Life Alert is a Personal Emergency Response company that saves lives from catastrophic outcomes, using a unique technology to provide superior home monitoring and protection. Founded in 1987, the medical alarm company provides its service to members nationwide, and is the only company endorsed by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D. Life Alert handles over a million calls a year, and on average saves a life every 38 minutes (saving over 13,000 lives in 2007). The company’s home-based protection enables seniors to keep living at home with independence and comfort.
While Life Alert has primarily been servicing members in the elderly age range for the past two decades, younger seniors and Boomers are signing up in greater numbers, since they too can benefit from the company’s protection against emergencies. The company has also received renewed media attention as it enters its third decade. “The Martha Stewart Show” featured and recommended Life Alert in January 2008, and in 2007 USA TODAY ranked Life Alert’s famous slogan “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!®” Number One on its list of “ads we can’t get out of our heads” from the past 25 years. For more information on Life Alert, call 1-800-338-9090 or visit www.lifealert.com.
Contact for Life Alert:
Dr. Don Rose
Head of Public Relations
Life Alert Emergency Response
818-700-7000 x103
drose@lifealert.com
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