5Star, a Jitterbug emergency system is now available. GreatCall, the company that produces the Jitterbug phone service bought out MobiWatch, a company that developed a mobile personal emergency response system and developed that system into the 5Star urgent response service. This service is a perfect complement to Jitterbug's LiveNurse service which provides 24-hour live nursing advice via phone in non-emergency cases.
Since you can already call 911, you might be thinking why would this emergency service be any better? That’s a good question! Of course, 911 is great, but it has a few inconveniences.
If we take a look at their current LiveNurse service, you see that there is a big advantage to already having your personal data and perhaps medical history on file so they can give better and faster advice. Similarly, with the future Jitterbug mobile personal emergency response service, they could have your information readily available so they could perhaps respond more quickly and efficiently which can be critical in an emergency situation.
Another issue may be privacy. 911 calls are considered public records, and they make their way into the media every now and then. However, you may be able to keep your interactions with the Jitterbug mobile personal emergency response system private, and choose to release the information only to your doctor or caregiver. I assume the privacy regulations will allow you to keep this information confidential.