Fall detection system for the elderly

According with the World Health Organization, Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide. Adults older than 65 suffer the greatest number of fatal falls. Therefore, the quality of life of older people can be improved by using automatic fall detection systems. This paper presents a fall detection system that monitors in real-time an older adult. The system defines two major components: a wearable device and a cell phone. The wearable has the capability of communicating with a cell phone can be located in a 100ft radius. Once, the wearable device detects a fall, it sends an alert to the cell phone; then the cell phone alerts to the emergency contacts defined by the user. The main idea is to avoid the need of carrying the cell phone every time. In addition, our system has a panic button that can be used in order to alert the emergency contacts in the event that the user feels that a fall may happen.