Medical Alert Bracelet vs. Medical Alert Device: Which is Better?

There is a significant difference between a medical alert bracelet and a medical alert device. The BRACELET traditionally has been a wearable object containing important medical information about the wearer, for first responders to reference in the event of an accident or emergency. The DEVICE, by contrast,  is a wearable electronic method of sending an emergency alert and communicating directly with a response operation in the event of a medical or similar emergency.

The bracelets are usually made of metal and resemble jewelry, typically worn around the wrist. First responders know to look here for critical information when dealing with an accident victim. A medical alert device is often worn as a necklace pendant, or a clip-on unit, or in its latest innovation as a smartwatch. The advent of the medical alert smartwatch has caused the confusion between the medical alert bracelet and the medical alert device. Marketing terms and common language usage often overlap, leading people to refer to medical alert devices – mistakenly – as “medical alert bracelets.”

Medical Alert Bracelets

Traditionally a medical alert bracelet and a medical ID bracelet have served similar purposes but with some differences. The alert bracelet usually is engraved with only critical information for responders such as medical condition, medicine allergies and such. The ID bracelet contains broader information, such as the wearer’s name, emergency contact details, and medical history – it may focus less on urgent conditions and more on overall identification and safety. The purpose here is similar to Bay Alarm Medical’s Vial of Life medical record keeping system.

Medical Alert Devices

If someone is looking for a system that will actively call for help, even if they use the term “bracelet,” they likely mean a medical alert device rather than a traditional engraved bracelet. In the world of medical alert systems, the variety of devices is great. Here’s a look at the field of medical alert devices.

In-home medical alert systems are designed to provide protection within the home, where many accidents occur, especially falls. They typically consist of a base unit connected to a landline or cellular network, either paired with a wearable help button, or standalone using motion detection and other technology to detect an incident.

The in-home system covers a specific range within the home, can include fall detection, and usually comes with a two-way communication system. These systems can also serve as a base station for portable medical alert devices that can travel outside the home.

Mobile systems work beyond the home, using cellular networks and GPS tracking to provide coverage wherever there is a signal. They often, but not always, connect back to the base station at home. The GPS tracking monitors the location of the user – accuracy can vary, and shopping around is useful here.

The mobile system can usually include fall detection, tied to a 24/7 monitoring center, often with direct two-way communication. Devices can come as pendants, pocket or clip-on units, and watches. Mobile systems are useful for active seniors or individuals who travel or still get out to the stores or to community and volunteer centers and the like, especially those who are alone.

The small size, connected portability, and wearability of these devices has revolutionized senior protection and care. Increasingly, wearable devices are designed as discreetly as possible, resembling jewelry or fitness trackers. Wearable devices have pioneered fall detection, the greatest danger facing the infirm, and now can include multiple functions such as heart rate monitoring, step tracking, or medication reminders.

Smartwatch Medical Alert Systems

The smartphone’s development of its companion smartwatch made a leap in design for wearable technology, incorporating the power of the modern phone compressed into a traditional wearable item, the wristwatch, worn inconspicuously on the person.

“person clicking Apple Watch smartwatch” by Luke Chesser, licensed under Unsplash

As smartphone developers such as Apple became interested in the health market and developed apps for monitoring vital signs, concurrently some medical alert companies were transferring their own, dedicated medical-alert technology into a watch-based system. Bay Alarm Medical has been and remains one of the innovators in this field.

Today, users who opt for the watch as their preferred wearable can choose either the complexity of the smartphone-paired smartwatch with health, medical and fall-detection features added, or the simplicity of the purpose-built medical alert watch, standalone (needs no smartphone companion) and designed around its core functions of fall detection, GPS tracking, medical alerts and a 24/7 monitoring center (this latter is an element that the smartwatch lacks).