Lifeline with AutoAlert will detect a fall and automatically call for help.

With a staggering 13 million of older Americans who fall each year, it is no surprise that a big industry has sprung around that fact of life. Faced with the prospects of an elderly loved one falling at home and unable to get up or summon help, the next best thing for a relative, is to rely on some devices that can be activated or better yet can self active themselves and call for help in such circumstances. Philips is one of several companies that that offer devices that can be pressed by the fallen person to call for help. Known for its LifeLine brand of monitoring devices, now, the company is offering a new device called AutoAlert that can detect a fall and summon help automatically.Worn around the neck, LifeLine AutoAlert uses accelerometers and pressure sensors to detect a person's fall and call for help within 30 seconds. LifeLine says that the AutoAlert which has bee available since April, has a 95 percent accuracy and will cost $13 a month on top of the basic monitoring fees.

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