Medical alert devices are useful for seniors who live alone or are afraid of falling. These devices have been around for a long time and are continuing to gain in popularity. Most of the devices work in this way: 1. Push a waterproof help button. 2. The button communicates wirelessly with a medical alert console that it plugged into your telephone jack. 3. The console communicates with a monitoring center, allowing you to talk via a very loud speakerphone. 4. The agent will assess the situation and then contact emergency services and/or an emergency contact list of friends, family and neighbors, if necessary.