Call Direct is a 24-hour emergency monitoring service provided by SA Ambulance Service. It is the only system of its kind in Australia that connects you directly to the ambulance service at the touch of a button.
Simply pressing the red button on the Call Direct unit or pendant will connect you directly to SA Ambulance Service. The same communications staff who handle Emergency triple-zero (000) ambulance calls answer these calls without delay. They can communicate with you through the built-in microphone and speaker in your Call Direct unit and send an ambulance if necessary.
SAAS communications staff have access to your personal and medical information on their computer screens. They know where you are and how to quickly access your home if you are unable to open your door. These details are relayed to the attending paramedics on their way to help you.
Call Direct is ideal for:
- elderly people living on their own, whether fit and healthy or infirm;
- people convalescing after an illness or accident or those recently discharged from hospital;
- people who are permanently or temporarily disabled;
- families with members suffering from an illness, e.g. acute asthma, epilepsy, diabetes or cardiac problems;
- anyone at risk of suffering a medical emergency in their home.
Call Direct helps people maintain their independence and continue living in their own home. It means an immediate response from SA Ambulance Service in an emergency, rather than waiting helplessly, unable to call an ambulance. This is important because long delays could lead to permanent disability and loss of independence.
Call Direct means peace of mind. It provides the security of knowing that in a medical emergency, professional help can be called at the touch of a button, 24-hours a day.
The system consists of a waterproof pendant (which can be worn around your
neck or on a wrist band) and a base unit that sits under your home
telephone. Call Direct works hands-free when the alarm is activated. You do
not need to touch your telephone or be right near the Call Direct unit, as
the inbuilt speaker and microphone allow two-way communication from another
room. The Call Direct base unit (the device that sends the alarm to SA
Ambulance Service’s Communications Centre) is connected to your home phone
socket and power.
To send an alarm, just activate your pendant from anywhere within a 50-metre
radius of the base unit by pressing the red help button. An alarm is sent to
SA Ambulance Service’s Communications Centre through your telephone line.
The Communications Centre then calls you back, activating the speaker in the Call Direct unit. This enables both parties to speak and hear each other. Once communication is established, your situation is assessed and an ambulance is dispatched if required. Where voice contact cannot be made, we send an ambulance immediately.
When you purchase or rent Call Direct you provide us with personal details, including your medical history, current medications and allergies, etc. These details are kept confidential and are accessible by our Communications Centre when your alarm is activated. Medical details are then relayed to the attending paramedics on their way.
You can choose to rent or buy the Call Direct
equipment, ongoing monitoring and rental. Payment options are monthly, quarterly or annually in advance by
cash, cheque, credit card, by direct debit or BPay.
Purchase of unit: $417.50
(Unit includes under-phone unit with microphone and speaker, standard pendant and Emergency Medical Information Booklet)
Monitoring: $29.70 per month
Qualified technicians carry out Call Direct installations. The Call Direct
unit must be installed on your primary phone line with a mode-3 socket. This
ensures the Call Direct alarm will get through, even if someone is already
on the phone.
There also needs to be a power point within one metre of your phone socket, so the unit can be connected to the mains power. This power point must be on the same wall as the phone socket.
Unit rental: $16.50 per month
Monitoring: $29.70 per month
Total cost: $46.20 per month
Rent the Call Direct personal alarm unit, including monitoring, for a maximum of three months.
Rental and monitoring: $60.00 per month
A $75.00 changeover fee applies when changing to normal rental.
If you think you will have Call Direct for more than 24 months, the purchase
option is best. If you rent the unit, after 24 months you would have paid
enough to purchase it. In the long term you will save by purchasing the unit
up front.
An additional standard pendant can be purchased when
there is more than one person in the residence wishing to use Call Direct. Each
pendant is programmed specifically to the individual. There is no extra
charge for monitoring for the extra person.
The standard pendant is fully waterproof and can be worn in the bath or shower.
Additional pendants can be purchased as fixed or portable backup alarms to be placed around your home.
The key box provides paramedics responding to your Call Direct alarm with quick and easy access to your home if you are unable to open the door.
This cast-iron secure key box is mounted outside your home, at no additional
charge if done at time of installation, and is programmed with a four-digit
number. The key box location and code are stored confidentially in SAAS’s
computer system, and this information is available to the SA Ambulance
Service Communications Centre when your alarm is activated.
