Telecare mobile emergency care service (MECS)

Telecare is a Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS).

It's a type of personal alarm that you can use to call for assistance:

• from your home
• at any time of day or night

Telecare is available to all Stirling Council residents.

Many different people benefit from this type of round-the-clock support, including:

• older people
• people living with dementia or Alzheimer's disease
• people with physical or learning disabilities
• people with mobility problems
• relatives and informal carers

The telecare service costs £4.60 a week. We take these payments at the end of each quarter.

Alarm connection

Setting up telecare involves installing a community alarm unit. This is a device that's connected to an active telephone socket in your home.

Along with the alarm, we'll also give you a waterproof pendant. You can wear this on a wrist strap or neck cord.

The pendant contains a two-way speech device that only switches on if you activate your alarm. 

How you activate your alarm

Once the unit has been set up, you can activate the alarm by pressing a button on either:

• the unit
• your pendant

When you do this, it sends a signal via your telephone line to our 24-hour response team.

What we do when you activate your alarm

We'll try to make contact with you over the unit and find out if you need assistance. If we cannot do this, we'll then try to call your premises.

Depending on the circumstances, we might take action by:

• contacting a family member or friend (known as a volunteer responder)
• sending one of our trained responders
• contacting your GP, NHS 24 or the emergency services
• providing reassurance over the unit or telephone

In addition to a pendant, we might be able to supply specific types of telecare sensors.

If you want to request any of these sensors, we can carry out a specific assessment after we've received your application.

Smoke detector

This sensor is useful if someone is:

• at risk from fire, through cooking issues or smoking
• has a mobility or sensory impairment that might prevent them from leaving when there's a fire

Heat detector

This sensor is useful if someone is at risk from temperature extremes. For example, it might be placed in a kitchen so an alarm is activated whenever a cooker is left on.

Flood detector

This sensor can help to detect water spillages. It might be placed near a sink or bath so an alarm is activated when a tap is left running.

Fall detector

This sensor can activate an alarm if someone falls in their home.

Bed sensor

This sensor can activate an alarm if someone leaves their bed during the night and does not return by a certain time.

Pressure mat

This sensor can activate an alarm if some gets out of bed during the night. This might be useful if the person has a condition like dementia.

Pill dispenser

This can be used to:

• dispense medication automatically
• provide accompanying audio and visual alerts 

Door contacts

This sensor can activate an alarm if some tries to go out at inappropriate times, such as during the night.

If you have any questions or need help with Telecare, you can contact the team on 01786 470500. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.