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"Life Alert" while working in your hangar?

Steve Crewdog

Well Known Member
Patron
Wife & I got to talking, she worries about me working by myself, sometimes into the evenings, on my plane with no one else around at the airport. She feels that if I fell or had a serious mishap and could not get to my phone I could at least squeeze the bulb on a Life Alert type of emergency device to summon help.

I semi-agree, but pointed out that since she's also home alone a lot (I'm the usual airline pilot and can be gone for a couple weeks at a time overseas), she should wear one too, since we're entering the age range where our bodies start breaking down and I worry about her.


Has this occurred to anyone else, or is it just us? She'll come out to the hangar once in a while or stop by on the way to/from the sewing store, but she'd rather be home sewing her quilts. (if you want sticker shock, price a modern, professional level sewing machine, especially a long arm quilting machine.)


Thanks
 
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BTW, talking to an ERT friend and he says cell phones have had an unintended consequence in ERT responses, in the days of hard-wired phones a person could at least somehow knock a phone down, an operator would eventually come on, and the person could yell out that they needed help. Cell phones have an ICE button, but if you don't have it on your person you're hosed.
 
I've never had anybody come online when I've knocked my phone off-line.

(Still have a landline)


I've had a recording, then the line goes dead eventually (no dial tone).
 
I remember when a 1200 BAUD modem was fast...........

Older than that?

I can still count to F in IBM assembler, and used to program on punch cards. (I also have a cherished, threadbare 1978 Jimmy Buffett concert t-shirt. Just don't ask me to try to fit into it.)
 
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I'd say "why not?" Couple of other options - get a wifi camera that she can look at from time to time, or keep your phone in your pocket.

I have thought of this as I often spend hours alone when in the hangar, and if something happened, it might be hours before someone missed me. I just always keep my phone in my pocket, and hopefully I'll be able to activate the SOS feature.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208076

ios13-iphone-11pro-power-off-screen-sos.jpg
 
Apple watches have fall protection alarms. They also contain heart monitors and the like and may (I dunno) be able to send an alert based on that information. Might be worth researching.
 
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Wife gave me an Apple Watch last birthday. It has an SOS(911) button for a life alert fob type function. I don’t think it will send a 911 call for a heart issue automatically. I can attest to the automatic fall/SOS detection. Has activated three times since last November. I was ok and canceled calls. Mountain biking...
 
...but do you still have one of these handy?

IMG_1170.JPG

Heh, yeah, I used to run one of those. Actually a pair of them, at a Johnson & Johnson facility in San Angelo, TX. I'm still amazed how far we've come with storage, since those big DASD's.
 
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I remember when a 1200 BAUD modem was fast...........

Older than that?

Sadly I remember the first time I bought a 2400 baud modem and doubled the throughput. I often think that my kids should experience that type of device to realize how good they have it today.
 
Sadly I remember the first time I bought a 2400 baud modem and doubled the throughput. I often think that my kids should experience that type of device to realize how good they have it today.
You whippersnappers with your fast modems - I started with 110 baud modems and paper terminals, and my "storage" was a paper tape with holes punched in.

Looked something like this, but ours didn't have a built-in modem - we had a separate one with a phone and a rubber cradle:

1280px-Telex_machine_ASR-32.jpg

One of my "favorite" things was the dreaded "PARITY ERROR - LINE IGNORED" message after typing in a long line in my program.
 
I got my arm stuck past the elbow in the tail of my Cessna 170 once. I had fished down into an inspection hole and my arm swelled and I couldn't get it out. For some reason I had removed my cell phone from my pocket and it was unreachable on the bench. It was early afternoon, and my wife wouldn't miss me until after dinner. It's a quiet airport, and who knows when someone would have happened by.

I gritted my teeth and ripped it out. I think I still have the scars.
 
75 baud TTY

HF radio. This is how we received the Apollo Module's Earth Centered Inertial Coordinates for tracking the re-entry on the USNS Watertown. 1966
 

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It happened to a friend at our airport

A longtime RV builder and friend passed away while working on his RV-8A in his hangar a couple years ago. Several of us had seen his truck parked at his hangar as it was nearly every day, but no one stopped to chat as we typically would..it was cold, snow on the ground and his space heater running. When he didn't show back at home at the typical time, his wife came out looking for him and found him unresponsive, and beyond help. A device may have helped alert someone, but he didn't even try (or answer)his phone, which would require exiting the metal hangar for reception. This sad, unfortunate event did make us all more aware of the welfare in our small group when we see something odd, however an alert system in a hangar would require some relay type system to get a signal out if no wifi/phone service was available.
 
A longtime RV builder and friend passed away while working on his RV-8A in his hangar a couple years ago. Several of us had seen his truck parked at his hangar as it was nearly every day, but no one stopped to chat as we typically would..it was cold, snow on the ground and his space heater running. When he didn't show back at home at the typical time, his wife came out looking for him and found him unresponsive, and beyond help. A device may have helped alert someone, but he didn't even try (or answer)his phone, which would require exiting the metal hangar for reception. This sad, unfortunate event did make us all more aware of the welfare in our small group when we see something odd, however an alert system in a hangar would require some relay type system to get a signal out if no wifi/phone service was available.

This is a good point. As is often the case with remote "less-than-urban" airports, cell reception might be problematic, and even more so inside a metal hangar. My hand-held VHF radio will barely receive anything if the hangar door is closed. I have terrible cell reception in my hangar. The biggest problem it usually poses for me is for remote switching for my pre-heater and such stuff. I did end up adding a cheap 50-ohm cell antenna on the outside wall for my Switcheon device and I'm contemplating a re-radiator for iPhone and iPad. I'd love to have a couple of Nest cameras, but the nearest wifi network is the local avionics hangar about 200 yards away and it's just out of reach for a reliable connection.
 
For those with Apple devices, this page highlights the emergency features available on devices you already own:

https://support.apple.com/safety-features

I bought the cellular version of the Apple Watch for exactly this reason -- don't need to be able to get to my phone to call for help.
 
I have a pair of Apple ear pods that I use when working in the hangar to listen to stuff to keep the brain occupied. They have noise cancelling that is good enough to use a rivet gun. Take a hard fall or a bad injury, I can squeeze the right ear and tell Siri to call 911. So, another option...
 
Sometimes 911 isn't enough.
Back in the iPhone5 days I was installing ceiling fans in the hangar, alone, and up 15ft on the ladder when it slipped and I came crashing down on the concrete floor. I was aware enough to dial 911 but wasn't coherent enough to tell them where I was. They triangulated cell towers to find me, mobilized the firehall crew which was less than a city block away from the hangar... Earned me an evening in Emergency and some stylish stitches, & the EMS crew a double dozen of Tim Hortons donuts in gratitude that day.
 
Lat/Long sent

Ralph,

My Apple watch & phone can send lat/long and medical triage information on an Emergency SOS. The watch will self activate an automatic call/message if so set up. Privacy features are supposedly built in. I get cell coverage in my metal hangar. Not pushing a brand, it’s just the products I have.
 
Has this occurred to anyone else, or is it just us? She'll come out to the hangar once in a while or stop by on the way to/from the sewing store, but she'd rather be home sewing her quilts. (if you want sticker shock, price a modern, professional level sewing machine, especially a long arm quilting machine.)


Thanks



Yeah, I hear you on this. My wife has one of those quilting machines, 12', I think.:)
 
Ralph,

My Apple watch & phone can send lat/long and medical triage information on an Emergency SOS. The watch will self activate an automatic call/message if so set up. Privacy features are supposedly built in. I get cell coverage in my metal hangar. Not pushing a brand, it’s just the products I have.

I mentioned iPhone5 just to illustrate it being an older phone, I have updated my equipment a couple times since.
Kinda reminds me of the state of instrument panels & efis’s, wait 5 minutes & it’s time to upgrade.
 
Medical posts erased

I'm happy that this thread hasn't been deleted so far. I've posted several 'medically related' thread starts and all were deleted within 30 minutes by one or more moderators. Good info here - thanks - guess that I have to purchase two I-watches. Thanks again, Ed
 
For those with Apple devices, this page highlights the emergency features available on devices you already own:

https://support.apple.com/safety-features

I bought the cellular version of the Apple Watch for exactly this reason -- don't need to be able to get to my phone to call for help.

Me too, with fall and crash notification turned on. However, for your cellular-equipped Apple Watch to make a call without using your iPhone, you have to have a number-sharing plan with your cell-provider...usually about $8 - $12 per month added on to your cell phone bill.
 
I've done so much sketchy stuff over the years that my wife is reconciled to the fact that I'm incorrigible. She just upped my life insurance and called it a day.

Just kidding...maybe.

I'm semi-retired and my wife still works and travels a ton, so personally, I don't see how being by myself in a hangar somewhere is much different than working in my garage by myself for 12 hours or so. Or for that matter, sitting on the sofa and watching TV while she's on a trip.

As I type this, she's 7 time zones ahead of me and unless I have a flight lesson scheduled or one of the kids calls or pops by, it might be a couple of days before anybody starts wondering where I'm at.

I'm 56 and in reasonably good health. If I was 76 I might feel differently.

BUT...

If you (or more importantly she) is happier with you wearing a life alert, by all means go for it. It's cheap insurance for her comfort.

The reason I say go for it is because I totally get where she's coming from. My mom is in assisted living, so my dad lives alone. At 91 He refuses to move off the farm and also refuses to stop using a chain saw, get up on a ladder to clean the gutters etc. He only carries his cell phone about 1/2 the time and if I got him a life alert, I'm 100% confident that he would say thanks and then toss it in a sock drawer the second my back was turned. Turns out it's hard to convince somebody who was in Korea that they need to change their ways :)
 
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I've done so much sketchy stuff over the years that my wife is reconciled to the fact that I'm incorrigible. She just upped my life insurance and called it a day.

Just kidding...maybe.

I'm semi-retired and my wife still works and travels a ton, so personally, I don't see how being by myself in a hangar somewhere is much different than working in my garage by myself for 12 hours or so. Or for that matter, sitting on the sofa and watching TV while she's on a trip.

As I type this, she's 7 time zones ahead of me and unless I have a flight lesson scheduled or one of the kids calls or pops by, it might be a couple of days before anybody starts wondering where I'm at.

I'm 56 and in reasonably good health. If I was 76 I might feel differently.

BUT...

If you (or more importantly she) is happier with you wearing a life alert, by all means go for it. It's cheap insurance for her comfort.

The reason I say go for it is because I totally get where she's coming from. My mom is in assisted living, so my dad lives alone. At 91 He refuses to move off the farm and also refuses to stop using a chain saw, get up on a ladder to clean the gutters etc. He only carries his cell phone about 1/2 the time and if I got him a life alert, I'm 100% confident that he would say thanks and then toss it in a sock drawer the second my back was turned. Turns out it's hard to convince somebody who was in Korea that they need to change their ways :)

I'm 71 and not terrible concerned about crumping in my hangar, but it is just one more reason. The main reason I have crash detection alert turned on on my Apple watch (Ultra) and on my iPhone, as well as location sharing, is that I do a lot of mountain biking...and this area is a major mountain biking destination with an extensive trail network. It would be easy to end up down a 30 foot ravine in dense foliage.
 
You can get in some really weird positions building and servicing an RV. Having a phone or watch to connect is a good idea. When I was building houses, I would never go in a crawl space or attic without my 9mm. No way I was going to be locked in!

Our cell and internet coverage is not great at our airport. If I could bet a booster or something to improve it, I would probably get the apple watch.
 
I'm 71 and not terrible concerned about crumping in my hangar, but it is just one more reason .

I carry phone when I crawl inside airplane. Since I am no longer as flexible as I used to be, I am worried I may not be able to get out.

Our cell and internet coverage is not great at our airport. If I could bet a booster or something to improve it, I would probably get the apple watch.

Being in a metal hangar does no good to cell coverage. I get ok coverage in summer when working with hangar door open but in winter with doors closed my cell is pretty worthless, especially receiving calls.
 
You can get in some really weird positions building and servicing an RV. Having a phone or watch to connect is a good idea.

Many years ago an older fellow had a KIS Cruiser in the hangar next to mine. One day as I was turning into my taxilane on the way to my hangar there was a Medic 1 van and a fire truck in front of his hangar. Turns out he was doing some work in the cockpit under the panel and could not get out by himself and called 911 for help. He wasn't in the best of health and getting help quickly may have saved him.
 
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Being in a metal hangar does no good to cell coverage. I get ok coverage in summer when working with hangar door open but in winter with doors closed my cell is pretty worthless, especially receiving calls.

That why I have a Surecall cell booster in my hangar. It also works for the MiFi unit too, which supports a security camera and a smart plug to remotely turn on my engine heater.
 
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