OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture--For elderly evacuees living in temporary housing in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, help is only the press of one big button away.
OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture--For elderly evacuees living in temporary housing in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, help is only the press of one big button away.
Officials have launched an emergency call system using a cellphone-type device that can be used to summon help quickly, following numerous reported deaths of the elderly dying alone.
While an emergency call system using conventional phones has been available, the city judged that cellphones, which are portable, are more convenient for provisional housing residents.
They are provided free to disaster victims. A similar service is offered in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
The phone-type handset has a big button. When a user pushes it, the caller will be directly connected to the Safety Service Center, an emergency call service company, and can speak with a nurse.
The system is modeled after SoftBank Corp.’s Mimamori Phone (watching phone), an easy-to-use handset with a location search and a security buzzer.
Nurses are available to answer calls 24 hours a day, and an ambulance will be dispatched in the event of an emergency.
With advance registration, the Safety Service Center will also keep information on users’ medications.
Even if callers become unable to speak after pushing the button due to pain, the center can locate them. The center may also immediately contact someone who lives nearby and have the person go and check on the caller.
Even if not an emergency, users can consult about their health conditions through the cellphone anytime. The center will also contact each user once a week.
Since it is considered dangerous for the elderly to live alone for a prolonged period, the service is expected to play an important role in filling the gaps of municipalities’ monitoring activities.
More than 10 people have been using the service since Ofunato started it in December.
The city is considering extending it to 100 residents.
As of Feb. 1, six people had died while living alone in provisional housing in Iwate Prefecture, according to prefectural police. Miyagi Prefecture recorded eight elderly deaths while alone as of the end of 2011, while Fukushima Prefecture had four people die in provisional housing as of Jan. 27, according to Miyagi and Fukushima prefectural police departments.
In Ofunato, a male victim of the disaster in his 60s living in a dormitory for university officials was discovered a few days after his death in late January.