The Lifeline & Responder service in Driffield dealt with 11,876 incoming and outgoing calls between 24 December 2019 and 2 January 2020 from residents in the East Riding.
For thousands of people in the East Riding the Lifeline & Responder service is just that, a lifeline, providing reassurance and, if needs be, an emergency response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
A dedicated team of council staff worked around the clock over the Christmas period to ensure the safety of vulnerable residents.
Joanne Rosser, Lifeline manager, said: “Our team worked throughout the Christmas period receiving a wide range of calls from low-level advice and reassurance, to emergency responses including falls or deteriorations in health.
“Christmas can be a difficult time for many people who can feel more alone and isolated and having this service provides reassurance and peace of mind to users, carers and families.
“Technology is advancing so fast that it can raise alerts automatically when something hasn’t happened in the home, for instance, visits to the kitchen or changes in temperatures, whilst also giving opportunities for individuals to connect with family using devices such as Alexa.
The Lifeline & Responder service consists of a range of sensors that are placed in a person’s home to support independent living.
They are linked to the monitoring centre which is manned by trained operators who are ready to take the most appropriate action should someone trigger a sensor or press the red button on their home or personal lifeline system.
This action could be contacting a family member, neighbour, doctor, Lifeline responder or the emergency services.
Joanne added: “At 2am on Boxing Day an alert was received from an automated falls detector informing the control centre that a lady had fallen in the bathroom.
“Contact was made with the lady, the operator kept the lady calm and reassured her whilst arranging a visit from our responder to assess the lady’s injuries.
“She was assisted from the floor using our lifting equipment, the family were contacted and the responder stayed with her until family arrived.
“This timely response and use of technology resulted in the lady being able to stay at home and reducing the need for more urgent care which may have been the case if the fall had remained undetected.
“This is just one example of the many similar calls we get from members of the public.”
The service is available to any vulnerable person of any age who is in need of added help and reassurance to continue living independently.
This could include a disabled person, people who have been discharged from hospital, people at risk of domestic violence, racial harassment, repeat victimisation or distraction burglary.
The service can also give carers a respite by for example taking away the need for those all-important ‘just in case’ checks which are instead carried out by assistive technology.
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