A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF....

John Smith is 69 years old and in reasonably good health. He worked for almost 40 years at St Rollox in Springburn, and has lived in north Glasgow all his life. He lives alone since his wife died 4 years ago. John recently got a leaflet through his door telling him about our service and he decided to become a member. To show you how the project works let us follow a week in John's life:

Monday

At the usual time of 9.30am the telephone rings. It is Trisha from Good Morning Milton. She checks the computer records and finds that John was playing in a bowling tournament yesterday and asks him how he got on. Before she goes, Trisha tells him of a new Men's Club which has just started on Wednesday afternoons so he might just go along.

Tuesday

At 9.30am the Morning Caller is Jeanette. During the conversation she double checks that John will be in the house that afternoon because she will be delivering his Lifeline Tube. The Lifeline Tube allows speedy action to be taken in the event of an emergency. The tube is a medicine container which will hold all details of John's medication, allergies and next of kin details. Jeanette explains that the tube is kept in the fridge and a sticker put on behind John's front door so the Emergency Services know he has one. John assures Jeanette that he will be back from his shopping trip in plenty of time for her visit.

Wednesday

As usual the phone rings at 9.30am. Cathy is his Morning Caller today. After mentioning that he thinks that food prices are getting higher, she tells him about the local Community Shop & Food Co-op which offers a range of low cost items. It will even deliver to people who can't get to the shop. Cathy also tells John that she'll post a price list to him for him to compare prices. She finishes off by wishing him well at the new club this afternoon and says she'd like to hear about it tomorrow.

Thursday

John has a doctor's appointment at 9.30am at Woodside Health Centre so as previously arranged he gets his telephone call at 8.30am. John usually gets a bus to the health centre but not today. He doesn't need to worry about them being on time anymore because his Morning Caller referred him to the free escort service which takes people to their doctor and hospital appointments. Before the call ends, Cathy finds out that John would like the time of his call to be changed back to 9.30am tomorrow.

Friday

John doesn't answer his telephone at 9.30am this morning. As the Morning Callers know that sometimes John pops out to buy a paper, Sylvia rings him again ten minutes later. However, when John still does not answer his phone Sylvia calls one of John's nominated contacts to pass on her concerns. The nominated contact person is John's neighbour, Mary. She has a set of keys for his house and will go round to check that he is safe and well. Sylvia asks Mary to call and let her know what she finds. Ten minutes later Mary called back to say that she found John at the bottom of the stairs, conscious but unable to move. Sylvia immediately called out the Emergency Services who quickly found all of John's medical details in the Lifeline Tube in the fridge. Sylvia also alerted John's other nominated contact, his son Alec, who left his work to join his dad at the hospital.

John had gotten up earlier that morning for a glass of water and lost his footing on the stairs. He had broken his arm and fractured his ankle. John couldn't move to alert someone to his accident, he couldn't get to the telephone to dial 999.

Saturday and Sunday

There was no call on these days because Alec had left a message on the project's answering machine on Friday night. He advised that John would be kept in the hospital for at least a week but he would telephone the project when his dad was allowed home. John's calls were therefore put on hold until we were contacted.

Finally, I must tell you that 'John' is not a real person, he is fictitious. However, we at Good Morning Milton have alerted a number of relatives and friends when one of our members has not answered their telephone when we called. Thankfully, all have been safe and well but one day they may not be and we will make sure that help gets to them. The story of 'John' gives you an insight of how the service operates and shows how we can act as a safeguard against potential danger and ultimately save a life. Even if we never need to alert someone to a potential problem with a member, we still give valuable 'peace of mind' 365 days a year.