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Bay Alarm Medical
SecureScore™: 9.3/10
Bay Alarm Medical is an extremely popular waterproof medical alert system that is not only affordable, but comes equipped with a variety of helpful features. With Bay Alarm, you can expect high-quality equipment and a 15 day free trial to test it out.
Medical Guardian is a well-respected brand that boasts an A+ BBB rating. All of Medical Guardian's help buttons are waterproof. That makes this option perfect for active wearers or those who want to wear their help button in the shower.
ADT goes beyond making their wearable devices waterproof. They also made their Wall Mount Button waterproof as well. This is a perfect solution for those at a heightened risk while showering since you can mount a large button in your shower.
Bay Alarm Medical is an extremely popular waterproof medical alert system that is not only affordable, but comes equipped with a variety of helpful features. With Bay Alarm, you can expect high-quality equipment and a 15 day free trial to test it out.
Medical Guardian is a well-respected brand that boasts an A+ BBB rating. All of Medical Guardian's help buttons are waterproof. That makes this option perfect for active wearers or those who want to wear their help button in the shower.
ADT goes beyond making their wearable devices waterproof. They also made their Wall Mount Button waterproof as well. This is a perfect solution for those at a heightened risk while showering since you can mount a large button in your shower.
You’re at a high risk of falling in the shower, which can require medical assistance. Those falls are also more likely to cause injury than falls anywhere else.1 Being able to take your medical alert device with you in the shower is one of many reasons you need waterproof medical alert devices.
Water resistance is one of the aspects we assess when testing medical alert systems. We submerge our devices in water and take them with us in the bath. Then, we test to ensure they remain fully functional. Bay Alarm offered us the best waterproof medical alert devices, closely followed by Medical Guardian and ADT Health. Read more to learn about them.
Everything about Bay Alarm Medical is easy. When purchasing our system, their website clearly showed our options and how much each one costs. Once it arrived at our doorstep, getting our system up and running only took about 15 minutes. Using it on a daily basis couldn’t be any simpler either.
Impressive response time with emergency response center
No activation fee
On-the-go pendant, necklace, and wristband options
Sleek appearance of smartwatch
Dual system offers extra layer of protection
Extra features on smartwatch, like step tracker
Cons:
Equipment fee added on some systems
Battery life only 6 to 8 hours on the smartwatch
Long wait time with customer service
Our Experience:
Bay Alarm Medical’s Waterproof Equipment
We bought a Bay Alarm Medical SOS Smartwatch so that we could test Bay Alarm’s most water resistant device.
While all of Bay Alarm Medical’s wearable devices offer some amount of water resistance, they’re not all equal. They all worked after we showered while wearing them, but some we needed to take off before hopping in the pool.
More specifically, the SOS All-In-One and the GPS Help Button only received an IPX6 rating whereas the SOS Micro and SOS Smartwatch received an IP67 rating. The second number in those ratings refer to the water resistance of the device with the six meaning it can withstand being sprayed with water, but cannot be submerged, whereas the seven means the device can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes.
Did You Know? A seven rating for water resistance on the IP scale is as high as you’ll get for a medical alert device. That’s largely because these devices require a pushable button and movable parts are difficult to make fully waterproof.
Bay Alarm Medical’s Pricing
For offering some of the best equipment in the industry, Bay Alarm does it at surprisingly low prices. They’re one of the most affordable options, especially for couples since they offer monitoring for two devices at the same price as monitoring for one. Here’s an overview of Bay Alarm Medical’s pricing:
System
SOS Home
SOS All-In-One 2
SOS Micro
SOS SmartWatch
Upfront Costs
None
$149
$149
$199
Extra Alert Button
$39
Not available
Not available
Not available
360° Bundle
Not Available
+$10 per Month
+$15 per Month
+$15 per Month
Fall Detection
+$10 per Month
+$10 per Month
+$10 per Month
+$10 per Month
Cellular Support
+$5 per Month
Included in Base Price
Included in Base Price
Included in Base Price
Base Price Per Month
$24.95
$34.95
$34.95
$39.95
Industry Comparison: Bay Alarm is not the only medical alert system that costs under $25 per month. Lively also offers a plan for their mobile device that costs $24.99 per month, although you need to pay for the device upfront. Check out our Lively price guide and Lively review for all the details.
Bay Alarm Medical’s Usability
The pendant that came with our Bay Alarm SOS Home system is water resistant so we could take it with us in the shower.
Where Bay Alarm’s usability really stands out is with their mobile app. Caregivers can see the location of their loved one clearly displayed on a map with a pin showing their location. That’s typical of a caregiver app, although when we tested MobileHelp, we found out that some providers limit the amount of times you can check up on your loved one’s location. Bay Alarm let us check as often as we wanted.
That’s not all, though. Bay Alarm’s mobile app lets caregivers manage every aspect of the user’s account. It let us check our purchase history, change emergency contacts, and add home entrance details for first responders. This makes it so your loved one doesn’t need to worry themselves with all the technical details of their medical alert system.
The rest of the system takes a similar approach where the responsibility of the user is minimal enabling them to receive as much help as they need to manage the system.
If you’re looking for an at-home system you can still use when meandering through your garden or lounging on your back porch, Medical Guardian should be at the top of your list. Their at-home systems feature an impressive 1,400-foot range and all of their wearable alert buttons are at least water resistant.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Multiple wearable devices, including a functional smartwatch
TMA Five Diamond Certified monitoring based in the U.S.
GPS-ready and water-resistant
At-home and on-the-go solution in one
Customer portal for activity tracking and communication
Cons:
Expensive equipment fees
Response times could be more consistent
No trial period
Bright light can be disruptive at night
Water resistant devices, but they’re not waterproof
Our Experience:
Medical Guardian’s Waterproof Equipment
Unlike with Bay Alarm Medical, every wearable Medical Guardian device is IP67 rated. That means you can take them in the shower or swim with them. As a reminder, we could only swim with some of Bay Alarm Medical’s alert devices since they were only rated IPX6.
Medical Guardian’s MGMove charged us extra if we wanted to access the Messages & Reminders feature.
Medical Guardian’s Pricing
Regardless of which system you want, expect to pay for the equipment upfront or finance it with Medical Guardian. No free equipment here. If you’re looking for free equipment, Bay Alarm Medical offers their at-home system with no upfront fees and ADT offers all of their systems with a flat $99 activation fee but no cost for equipment.
Medical Guardian’s app is functional, but we think it could use a redesign to make it more user friendly.
Don’t expect a Bay Alarm quality mobile app from Medical Guardian. It’s still functional, but not nearly as easy to navigate and you cannot easily outsource all of your account management to a caregiver. Caregivers can still check the location of devices they manage, though. Check out our Bay Alarm vs Medical Guardian guide for an in-depth comparison.
What made Medical Guardian easy for us to use was its impressive range. That 1,400-foot range meant we didn’t need to worry about our device disconnecting when we swam in our backyard pool. It also allowed us to install our base station anywhere we wanted in our house since the range was not a limiting factor. Range limitations on other systems meant needing to install our base station in the middle of our house.
Bathrooms can be dangerous. They present a lot of hazards from slippery floors to heat that can cause a loss of consciousness.2 ADT’s wall-mount medical alert button offers IP67 waterproofing and works with their at-home or on-the-go system with no upfront costs. Most providers only offer wall-mount medical alert buttons with at-home systems.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
No Equipment Fee
Rates Will Never Increase
Affordable Monthly Rate
Two-Way Talk on Mobile Device
GPS Location Detection
Optional Fall Detection
Cons:
No Free Trial
Mobile Device Could Be More Discreet
Inconsistent Response Time
Our Experience:
ADT Medical’s Waterproof Equipment
We already mentioned that ADT Medical’s wall-mount alert button is IP67 rated, which means it can be submerged in water; not that you’d need to. We recommend putting one up in the shower or near the tub for easy access. Don’t go putting it in the tub, though.
All other ADT alert buttons are IP67 rated as well. This means users do not need to think about whether or not they’re wearing the right alert button for any activity. With all buttons rated at IP67, you can take any of them with you everywhere you go.
FYI: During a medical event, you can become cognitively impaired. That’s when having a large, wall-mounted help button becomes useful. You don’t need to think about where it is or how to untangle it out of your clothes. All you need to do is hit the big button on your wall and help will be on the way.
ADT Medical’s Pricing
The pricing for ADT Medical is a bit deceptive. They say their equipment is free, but they tack on a $99 activation fee for all of their systems. To us, paying that $99 activation fee felt like paying for the equipment itself.
Either way, $99 is an affordable price for a medical alert system considering Medical Guardian’s systems start at $150. Here’s a complete breakdown of ADT Medical’s prices:
Medical Alert System
Basic
Plus
On-The-Go
Activation Fee
$99
$99
$99
Wall-Mount Button
+$2.99 per month
+$2.99 per month
+$2.99 per month
Additional Pendant
$14.99 upfront + $5 per month
$14.99 upfront + $5 per month
Not Available
Fall Detection
+$11 per month
+$11 per month
+$11 per month
Monitoring Fee
Starts at $26.99 per month
Starts at $34.99 per month
Starts at $ 36.99 per month
ADT Medical’s Usability
Compared to Bay Alarm and Medical Guardian, ADT Medical takes the opposite approach to usability. Instead of packing an app full of features, they don’t even have an app. There’s just the medical alert system you buy. To set it up, we called ADT to activate it. After that, there was only one button we ever needed to press and that was the help button on our pendant or wall-mount button.
This approach surprised us, because when we tested ADT’s home security system, we had the exact opposite experience. It was filled with technology and they make one of our favorite home security system apps. We think this is something they should add to their medical alert system, even if just for caregivers.
AARP members can save over $150 when buying a Lifeline medical alert system. That’s through free shipping, free activation, and 15 percent off an annual subscription. Or, you can get an at-home system for under $100 upfront including your first month of monitoring. Those are the best discounts on medical alert systems we’ve seen through AARP.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Easy to install
Long-lasting batteries and easy replacement
Overall helpful customer service
Nearly five decades of industry experience
Steep discounts for AARP members
Cons:
Subscription prices are high
All systems require an upfront fee
Somewhat limited range
Response time could be improved
Our Experience:
Lifeline’s Waterproof Equipment
Every Lifeline device with a help button on it, aside from the base station, can be fully submerged in water for up to 30 minutes. We like that consistency. It makes it easy to know your device’s waterproofing without needing to look up the specific model.
Lifeline’s Pricing
If you looked at Lifeline’s website, you might think they only offer three systems. But, the Home and Mobile Systems both have two different system types for a total of five systems. That can make it tricky to compare their prices, so we made a Lifeline pricing table comparing all your options:
System
Home Landline
Home Cellular
On the Go Standard
One the Go Mini
Smartwatch
Device Fee
None
None
None
None
$159
Setup Fee
$99.95
$99.95
$99.95
$99.95
Free
Shipping Cost
$29.95
$29.95
$29.95
$29.95
$29.95
Fall Detection
+$15 per month
+$15 per month
+$15 per month
+$15 per month
+$15 per month
Key Lockbox
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Monthly Fee
Starts at $27.95
Starts at $34.95
Starts at $39.95
Starts at $44.95
Starts at $34.95
Pro Tip: AARP members get $50 off of their Setup Fee through the free activation promotion. That means you won’t get that discount when buying a Lifeline Smartwatch since they label the upfront cost as an equipment fee instead of a setup fee.
Lifeline’s Usability
We were able to have our Lifeline system fully set up and functional within 10 minutes of it arriving at our house.
Setting up a Lifeline alert system couldn’t be easier. It only took us four steps and one of those steps was taking everything out of the box they shipped our equipment to us in. Our setup only took about 10 minutes total.
After that, we also set up the Lifeline mobile app which provided nearly as much functionality as the Bay Alarm mobile app for caregivers. However, we still preferred the Bay Alarm mobile app. Our Lifeline app was slow to refresh and missed notifications from time to time. Aside from the mobile app, though, using our Lifeline system to request assistance was simple.
Methodology: How We Tested and Ranked the Best Waterproof Medical Alert System
We don’t run a lab for testing an electronic device’s waterproofing, so we relied on the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) IP rating.3 They conduct third-party tests on electronic devices of all kinds to determine their water resistance. After finding out which medical alert systems offer water resistant devices, we bought 10 systems and tested them out. We assessed each system based on the following criteria:
Response Time: Seconds can save lives during medical emergencies so we always checked how much time it took to connect us with a monitoring agent after we hit the help button.
Fall Detection Capabilities: A main reason you might want a waterproof medical alert device is for the shower where falls are more likely, so we tested the accuracy of each system’s fall detection.
Real-World Water Resistance: Before adding any device to this list, we pushed it to its water resistance limit and then confirmed it still worked.
While those are our main criteria, our team of senior care experts look at every aspect of a system that can help keep a senior safe during a medical emergency. After using each system in our own home, we reach out to industry experts and real customers to get a full picture of the quality of each system before we make our recommendations.
What Does the IP Rating of a Medical Alert System Mean?
We appreciated the sleek design of the Bay Alarm SOS Smartwatch.
An IP rating has two numbers that tell you how dustproof and waterproof a device is. The first number is the dustproofing and the second number is the waterproofing.
Most wearable medical alert devices have a six or seven rating for waterproofing. A six in waterproofing means it can withstand water jets from any direction. Think of a water jet as taking the device out in the rain or in the shower. A seven means it can be submerged in up to 3.3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. These devices allow you to take swimming.
As for dustproofing, most devices either have a 6 rating or a rating of X. A rating of six means it’s fully dust-tight so that dust cannot cause issues with the device’s electronics. An X, on the other hand, means the device has not been tested for dustproofing.
Benefits of a Waterproof Medical Alert System
We bought the Medical Guardian MGHome Cellular which includes a waterproof help button pendant.
We highly recommend choosing a medical alert system with at least a wearable waterproof device. Here’s why:
Bathroom Safety: It might not seem like it, but the bathroom can be a dangerous place, especially when enjoying a hot shower. You can bring a waterproof medical alert device with you to the shower in case of a medical emergency.
Rainproof: If you plan to go outside with your medical alert device, you’ll want one that’s waterproof so it’ll still work in the rain.
Wear While Swimming: Exercising in the water is a great way to keep pressure off your joints. With a waterproof medical alert device, you can stay protected while doing your water aerobics.
More Robust: We’ve all dropped a device into water before or accidentally spilled a glass of water on a device. With a waterproof medical alert system, you don’t need to worry about those accidents leaving you unprotected.
Final Thoughts: Do You Need a Waterproof Medical Alert System?
Everyone could use a waterproof medical alert system. It just depends on how waterproof you need your medical alert system to be.
For people who swim or do other water activities, we recommend a wearable device with an IP 67 rating such as the Bay Alarm SOS Smartwatch or any Medical Guardian, ADT or Lifeline system. If you only need a device to take with you in the shower or out in the rain, you can opt for any Bay Alarm device, even the ones with a IPX6 rating.
No, not every medical alert system offers waterproof devices, but most providers at least offer some wearable devices that are water resistant. If the device has a built-in speaker or microphone, odds are it is at most water resistant.
You can only swim with your medical alert device if it has an IP67 rating. That means the device can be submerged in up to 3.3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes.
It’s a bit of a misnomer to call a medical alert device waterproof. If you submerge any medical alert device deep enough into water, it will spring a leak. When a medical alert system says a device is waterproof, they mean it has an IP67 rating so it can withstand being submerged in 3.3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes.
No, some of the most affordable medical alert systems offer waterproof devices. For instance, the Bay Alarm Medical SOS Home system includes a waterproof medical alert pendant and only costs about $25 per month.
Generally, medical alert devices with built-in microphones or speakers are not going to be waterproof. But, to know for sure if a device is waterproof, you need to look up its IP rating. Any device with an IPX6 rating can be taken in the shower or the rain and devices with an IPX7 rating can be submerged in water.
After earning a degree in journalism, Jenny Wisniewski spent much of her professional life in education; however, she returned to writing in earnest in the senior care space, acting as caregiver to her mother. She has hand-tested the industry’s top medical alert systems, writing nearly 50 in-depth articles that help seniors age safely in place. Jenny also covers caregiving, Medicare, assisted living, memory care, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Previously, she’s written for national publications such as Country Magazine and Sierra Magazine. Jenny holds dual bachelor’s degrees in English/Journalism and Political Science from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She currently resides in Milwaukee, WI.