Student Techlife Student Techlife
  • Categories
    • Student Life
    • Technology
    • Home Assistant
    • 3D Printing
    • DIY
  • My House
  • My Projects
    • Home Assistant Glow
    • NIPKaart
    • Teddy Bear Hunting
    • NFC Scanner
  • Who am I?
  • Media
  • Contact
0
862 Followers
177 Followers
Student Techlife Student Techlife Student Techlife
  • Categories
    • Student Life
    • Technology
    • Home Assistant
    • 3D Printing
    • DIY
  • My House
  • My Projects
    • Home Assistant Glow
    • NIPKaart
    • Teddy Bear Hunting
    • NFC Scanner
  • Who am I?
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Home Assistant
  • Student Life
  • Technology

Hello? What is your emergency? πŸ†˜

  • February 12, 2020
  • Klaas Schoute

Today I want to talk about safety in the context of medical necessity and how technology can help with independent living. This is a question that I’ve struggled with for ages and where I’ve finally been able to make a start.

Of course many things that I tell in this blog are still under development, but enough to tell about. Do you have any tips or ideas for me? Please let me know! I try to find the best possible solution for myself and for others, in order to make life a lot more pleasant.


As some people know I am familiar with heart rhythm problems, this can cause me to faint easily in some cases. In the past there was always someone nearby, who was familiar with my medical problem and could act if it ever happened.

Now that I live independently, that has become a different story. If something should happen now at home, there is certainly a 30-minute arrival time and how do they enter my home? And there is something else that really bothers me.

Normally you would use a personal alarm in these types of cases, but the problem is that you will receive equipment that is intended for people of older age (let’s say elderly). This is totally out of line with people of my age, we don’t want a pendant with a button or a watch with a large push button.

You want something that fits more in your lifestyle, such as a smart watch. Is a smart watch reimbursed? No, because we are behind in the use of new technology. Is there a company that already works with smart applications in this case? I’ve not (yet) encountered them. Although there was a company at IFA Berlin 2019, that came close to what I was looking for.

Fortunately I’ve now found a way that makes it sufficient for me πŸ˜€

In House

To start with the basics, how did I arrange it in my own studio? What can I do to alert someone?

First I’ve a Telegram group, with contacts that I want to alert. Including my own Home Assistant Telegram bot. In house there are 2 ways to trigger the emergency “protocol”:

  • There is a physical button (Xiaomi smart switch) in the center of the house
  • I can ask Google Home to activate the protocol

When I activate the protocol, my Telegram bot will place a message in the group with a piece of text, my location (a map and a human-readable address) and my telephone number.

It’s intended that someone will call me, if I don’t answer then someone comes to the last known address. If I answer, I can indicate what is going on and whether it is necessary to come or not.

Inside Home Assistant

What you might be most curious about is how I arranged all this in Home Assistant.

I’ve two automations (emergency_alerts.yaml) with which I can set everything in motion. One for when I want to trigger the emergency protocol and one for when it’s a false alarm.

Unfortunately I can’t share all the scripts that is used, it contains sensitive information that I’m not going to throw into the world. However, you will find an anonymous version below ⬇️

script.call_emergency

Everything between square brackets has changed, compared to the original file.

call_emergency:
  alias: 'Emergency'
  sequence:
    # Boolean
    - service: input_boolean.turn_on
      data:
        entity_id: input_boolean.emergency
    # Message
    - service: notify.telegram_emergency
      data:
        title: '*Emergency*'
        message: |-
          [My message to the people]
    # Map
    - service: notify.telegram_emergency
      data:
        title: Location
        message: This is my location
        data:
          location:
            latitude: "{{ state_attr('[DEVICE TRACKER ENTITY]', 'latitude') }}"
            longitude: "{{ state_attr('[DEVICE TRACKER ENTITY]', 'longitude') }}"

script.false_alarm_emergency

In case of a false alarm, this script (false_alarm_emergency.yaml) is executed, which does nothing more than turning off a boolean and sending a message in my Telegram emergency group.

Lovelace

On my dashboard (dashboard.yaml) I use a custom button card that visually shows my status, if there is nothing: it’s green. If I’ve activated the protocol, it will turn red and blink. (just like the images ⬆️)

On the way

But what if I’m not at home?

I can call Google Assistant on my smartwatch and ask to activate the emergency protocol and the same can also be done via my phone (Google Assistant or via a ‘/command‘ to my Telegram bot). Furthermore, the actions that follow are identical to those of when I would be home.

Redundancy

If Home Assistant fails for whatever reason, there is still an alternative available.

When I press a button 3 times on my Galaxy Watch Active 2, an SOS message is sent around and / or my phone calls a contact. This option should always go well and therefore a handy backup.

The best thing would be if the smartwatch called a number from a company that offers professional care in such cases. However, I’ve not found a company that offers a service like this. Just a call center that can be called and that they come along, without taking clumsy hardware that doesn’t suit me. Someone tips?

Future ideas

Currently, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 doesn’t have an ECG function or fall detection, this will hopefully be available in the first quarter of 2020 through a software update.

This would make it possible in the future to automatically alert, if the heart rate is too low (if the measurements are correct…). Or if I passed out and the fall detection registers this.


Are things not clear? Or if you have come to ideas by reading this blog, about how I can make it cooler and better? Share it with me! Via Twitter, mail or Github.

Share
Tweet
Share
Klaas Schoute

Interaction technology (UX/UI) student who loves home automation, drones, open source projects and likes to take you on his adventure to the perfect smart student house.

Related Topics
  • emergency
  • house
  • smart watch
Previous Article
  • College
  • Home Assistant
  • Student Life
  • Technology

My cookingplate died 🍳

  • December 30, 2019
  • Klaas Schoute
View Post
Next Article
  • College
  • Student Life

Back to school! πŸŽ“

  • September 18, 2020
  • Klaas Schoute
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Projects
  • Technology

Copier template for python packages

  • Klaas Schoute
  • June 14, 2023
View Post
  • Home Assistant
  • Integration

easyEnergy market prices with new integration in Home Assistant

  • Klaas Schoute
  • February 26, 2023
View Post
  • Home Assistant
  • Integration

EnergyZero market prices with new integration in Home Assistant

  • Klaas Schoute
  • January 11, 2023
View Post
  • Projects
  • Technology

Let’s contribute! Hacktoberfest 2022

  • Klaas Schoute
  • October 2, 2022
View Post
  • Projects
  • Student Life

πŸ…ΏοΈ NIPKaart project update

  • Klaas Schoute
  • August 22, 2022
View Post
  • College
  • Home Assistant
  • Student Life

It’s a long time ago

  • Klaas Schoute
  • June 3, 2022
View Post
  • Home Assistant

First integration in Home Assistant!

  • Klaas Schoute
  • June 2, 2021
View Post
  • DIY
  • Home Assistant

Blitzwolf LT11 with ESPHome

  • Klaas Schoute
  • March 11, 2021
4 comments
  1. David says:
    February 12, 2020 at 13:35

    Whats the name of your smartwatch face 😬

    Reply
    1. Klaas Schoute says:
      February 12, 2020 at 14:21

      They call it “Premium analog”

      Reply
  2. Rien says:
    January 31, 2021 at 18:29

    Hoi Klaas,
    Voor een horloge met ondersteuning kan je hier kijken http://www.smartwatcher.com
    Is wel een abonement bij nodig maar het werkt goed

    Reply
    1. Klaas Schoute says:
      February 23, 2021 at 19:53

      Het liefst zie ik eigenlijk een oplossing in de vorm van een app voor bestaande smartwatches πŸ™‚

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Author
Klaas Schoute
Interaction technology (UX/UI) student who loves home automation, drones, open source projects and likes to take you on his adventure to the perfect smart student house.
Recent Posts
  • Copier template for python packages June 14, 2023
  • easyEnergy market prices with new integration in Home Assistant February 26, 2023
  • EnergyZero market prices with new integration in Home Assistant January 11, 2023
  • Let’s contribute! Hacktoberfest 2022 October 2, 2022
  • πŸ…ΏοΈ NIPKaart project update August 22, 2022
Instagram


Student Techlife Student Techlife
  • Categories
  • My House
  • My Projects
  • Who am I?
  • Media
  • Contact
Make a student life smarter

Input your search keywords and press Enter.