Ålesund, Sula and Fjord municipality found a fault in the safety alarm provided by Atea – news Møre and Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio

An elderly woman who was equipped with a security alarm in Sula municipality was found dead and later died in hospital. It turned out that the alarm had not been activated and the municipality later found a fault with the alarm. No one knows now whether there is a connection between the alarm and the death. After this, the municipality found faults with a further alarm. Municipal manager in Sula, Kjetil Fylling, says that all security alarms are now working and users need not be worried. Photo: Terje Reite / news – This is so serious that we have reported it as a deviation to the National Health Inspectorate and in our own system, says municipal manager for health and care in Sula, Kjetil Fylling. He will not comment on the death. The alarm is either attached to the hand or as a piece of jewellery, which one should use if one needs help. Sula municipality found that there was a failure in the communication between the alarm that the user requests and the alarm box on the wall. As a result, healthcare personnel are not notified. It was Sunnmørsposten that mentioned the case first. Wrong in several places Municipal manager Synnøve Vasstrand Synnes in Ålesund municipality says that they have gained an overview of the situation and have implemented measures where necessary. Photo: Malin Kjellstadli Korsnes / news The alarms were purchased jointly with a total of 17 municipalities in North-West Norway. Several municipalities have now started testing the alarms. In Fjord municipality, an alarm was found to be faulty, according to Sunnmørsposten. In Ålesund, errors were found in four of the 600 alarms tested. – Those who had defective alarms have either received new ones or will receive them within a short time, says municipal manager Synnøve Vasstrand Synnes. There are 14,000 people in the municipality who use alarms. Scary that they don’t work Astrid Øverås (83) is one of those who depend on the alarm to feel safe. She lives alone and always wears it. – I think about it all the time that I have the security alarm if something happens at night or if I fall. I’m really bad with my bones, says Øverås. She thinks it is frightening to hear that faults have now been discovered in several of the alarms. Astrid Øverås in Ålesund thinks it is frightening that faults have been discovered with some of the security alarms. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Taking the matter seriously The IT supplier Atea says that they are now working closely with the municipalities and the manufacturers of the security alarm to find out what has happened. – This is a matter we take very seriously. Users must be confident that welfare technology will work, says communications director Christian Currell Brosstad. The case that has now been uncovered is that a notification should have been sent to the municipality’s control center when the alarm runs out of battery, but this has not happened. Atea also works to inform other customers with the same technology to ensure that they are set up correctly. Faults have been found on safety alarms of this type. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news



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